Behind You
by YamiYugiPuzzleshipper
Summary: The Millennium Puzzle was always said to harbor the most dangerous of magic. Yugi finds out just how real those legends are when he comes face to face with a creature darker than death itself. DARK!Puzzleshipping AU
1. Chapter I

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Warning: Cursing should be relatively mild but sometimes grows a little more at times, Season 0 Yami...and he's a little more unhinged than usual, so keep that in mind**.

**Note: There are mentions of blood, some graphic images of death, sensual moments and feelings, touches of violence/abuse**

**Update Schedule: I'm going to try for bi-weekly updates**

**Writing Note: I'm trying a new, more descriptive style for a story I plan to write later so tell me how I did with it? **

**Anyways, the story is a way to help get rid of some writer's block I'm dealing with so it's serving as a style-trial and a way to get back into writing.**

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Part I

Chapter I

"Aw, come on, Yug, kick his ass already!" the blond laughed from his spot behind him. He was leaning so far over his shoulder that his body heat warmed his skin and presented itself as a strangely comforting distraction. The smell of the hamburger he had gotten earlier at his favorite fast food restaurant was not nearly as nice. The thick undertone of pickle and mustard made his stomach twist as he glanced at him from the corner of his eye. When the other teen didn't acknowledge his stare, he turned back to the game he had been seated in front of for the last twenty minutes. He was struggling now that he had become distracted and his mind scrambled for the solution. He swore for a moment that the controls and buttons he needed to perform the combo he wanted was in his head. But it vanished just as quickly as it had come, replaced with a sense of sudden alarm and confusion.

It had to be something equivalent a small half-thought flittering through his mind. It was nothing but a lonely ember biting at the gelid winter air. But it was just noticeable enough to gather his attention and hold it for a single split second. It lacked familiarity or even the slightest touch of warmth and the frigid contact made his spine cold as if it were suddenly carved out of ice. The opponent on the screen was steadily destroying his remaining health points but he hardly had the desire to continue playing anymore. The small bite of cold nipped at him again but it was centered in his mind now. It felt like a dull ache, the beginnings of a migraine but soft enough that it lacked the pain that came with it. The sensation left him confused and more than a little dazed as he blinked. The screen flashed in front of his eyes and the music roared in his ears. The controller felt suddenly hot and clammy in his grip, almost as if mocking him now with the body heat it retained.

"No, no, Yug, he's about to win!"

He fought back a tremor to slowly turn around and survey the rather large arcade they occupied. The entire mass of students from their school who commonly hung out there when hours were over were all spread around as they normally were. They remained in their little groups where some played games while other encouraged them to win as his friend had just been doing for him. He continued searching and tried to focus on the warmth of the air around him as the gentle brush of ice in the back of his mind grew slightly stronger. It had grown more persistent, as if he had just done something to amuse it and draw attention to himself.

The hairs on his arms were starting to stand in a bristle beneath the fabric of his uniform jacket. His finger tapped momentarily against the analog stick in his hand before he squeezed for some kind of touch of normalcy. He had to admit he had never truly been one for magic and surreal things despite having grown up with tales of it from his grandpa. But this was impossible to ignore and he could not exactly wave it off as something childish like an overreaction. It was too deep in his core and left him too violently startled to be dismissed. It lingered beneath his skin like a foreign infection and curled like icy smoke. It invaded everything in his sluggish thoughts for a long moment. He nearly scolded himself when he pictured something like a bug crawling in his head, long legs and parasitic claws. It set out grasping and digging and touching all of his memories and it drew them to the surface in the back of his mind.

There was nothing unusual to catch his eye when he looked, however. There were all the normal groups of kids. All of them still wore their school uniforms of royal blue and bright pink after a long day studying and they all looked. But they looked _soft _for some reason. It was as if the folds of their clothes or just them in general were too strangely made up, not at all as sharp or strongly defined as the colors normally rendered them. For a second he swore he saw something moving in the corner of his eye and turned his head but found only an abandoned game's screen lit up and awaiting a new player. The lines that made up the shape of the machine were sharp and so much more defined than anything around it. Even the light on the screen seemed far harsher than it should have been. The music momentarily grew louder and beat into his eardrums without mercy before it settled into a smooth rhythm again. He looked around again and drew his hands away from the game controller to dig his nails into his thighs. The chill in the back of his mind was growing more pronounced with every second. It drifted through his thoughts and seemingly wrapped around each of them to draw something from them that he had no name of. The more he looked, the stronger that brush of ice became. It lingered and grasped and expanded like something was digging its nails in and spreading itself out, but no matter the effort he could find nothing. It felt as if an ice cube was being dropped down his shirt, rubbed along the curve of his spine so that the water seeped into his skin. The sensation left his entire body feeling unnaturally weighted, rending him completely immobile. He swore his heart skyrocketed, but the pulse pounding in his eyes seemed to exist in the center of his mind and it was not racing. Instead it held an eerily calm quality and lacked any bit of surprise or alarm. And while he listened to it in hopes of calming his frayed nerved, he thought his blood froze in his veins to grow as cold as his icy bones.

He searched the immediate area around him again, looking over the faces that he knew from school. All of them were familiar, kids whose names he sometimes forgot but knew for the most part. A small bit of frustration mixed with the ice lingering beneath his suddenly feverish skin. Everything retained that strange, soft quality where it should have been defined. The depth seemed almost completely blurred and confusingly so to the point that shadows bled into the regular shade of royal blue and left him wondering where they began and ended. His eyes widened as the colors began to bleed, taking on a deeper hue that made him freeze in place. He blinked and the heartbeat in his ears sped slightly and then skipped and stopped for a long second before he swore he heard it start up again with an audible effort. It lurched into a series of three that sounded distinctly like some kind of violent laughter. He blinked and then rubbed his eyes, doing a small double take to keep from drawing suspicion as he found everything in black and dark blue. The colors of the very room around him had taken on a sharply defined distinction of something like an inverted picture carved on a slate of wood or stone. It was scratchy and some of the lines seemed jagged. They trailed off almost like spikes of energy, forks of lightning in white and strange hues of gold, sharp and cruel to the eye.

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to suck in a breath around the sweeping chill in his body, and forced himself to slowly look again. For a moment he was almost sickly disappointed yet wholly satisfied when he found that it was completely back to normal. It was back to bright colors, shades of red and yellow and orange, and loud arcade music, kids playing or messing around with each other. The only heartbeat he was capable of hearing was his own which shook and strained violently in his chest as if it were somehow restarting itself. As if it had stopped completely at some point and needed to be restarted. His lungs ached, taking on a soft rasping quality when he sucked some more air in and managed just barely to keep himself from leaping to his feet. He searched again, his head aching and his chest feeling weak, alarms in his mind still going off somewhere in the back of his mind. Nothing popped up out of nowhere, nothing to catch his eye or make him stop short or do a double take. It was all normal again. He let out a soft exhale and relaxed, the relief of familiarity settling deep inside of him and pushing away some of that former alarm. Warmth crept its way slowly through his weighted limbs and pushed outwards from somewhere deep inside of his bones. His nerves took on a tingling quality as he closed his eyes for a moment to steady himself and turned back to his friend.

"Dude, what's wrong with you? You look a little pale—well, paler than _normal _anyways," he snickered. His lips pulled up into a wide grin at the joke as if it was the funniest in his world. He recognized it as a diversion tactic, something that the other teen used often to make him feel better when he or anyone else around him was uncomfortable around him. Most often it was used to show that he did not have to talk about something if he didn't feel comfortable enough to but he was there to support him if he needed it.

"Ha, nothing's wrong." _Or at least…I don't think there is_. _Not anymore anyways… _He cast a small glance around. His body tensed, steeling itself in case of the chill that had existed in his bones moments before. It crept across his subconscious suddenly, starting to draw at his being once more as if claws were sinking into his skin and threatening to bring forth blood. But nothing came up and he turned back with a small smile. "I guess I just needed a second. I think I've been playing this game for a little too long. My eyes are kind of starting to hurt."

"Oh, okay."

He stared at the blond, taking in the way that his tall nearly six-foot frame was hunched over to watch the game he had been playing. The smaller boy took in the way that his hands still rested near the controls where his had been formerly. Despite the single health point left in the game for the round, the blond had attempted to beat the level for him, adamant about attempting a win. They had been best friends since the first semester of the year had started and he had run into a little bully problem with another student almost three times his size named Ushio Tetsu. He was built like a brick, nasty as a rabid dog, easily offended, and just plain dangerous. The massive teen had a tendency to pick out certain students at the school that he referred to as "runts". They were then either put through his program of making them "perfect" as members of the disciplinary committee or offered "protective services" where he demanded an arm and a leg for beating the shit out of whomever he deemed that person's bullies. He had personally been the runt that had been sought out after being spotted one day in the quad. He was also the one that had been charged a "special fee" of _American _currency after he had found out that his father worked overseas. He had managed to keep Ushio from beating Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor too badly with the compromise of taking it instead. The event had sort of brought them together though there were still many moments where the three of them fell flat trying to be the group of best friends they were working to become. The blond gave him a quizzical look, brows furrowed and lips pursed slightly as he turned his head completely to stare at him. Brown eyes were hit by the light just enough to show off the flecks of cinnamon and the small bit of gray around his pupils among the honey brown shade that gave his irises the depth that they possessed.

"Uh, Yugi?"

"Hmm?"

"What's up?"

"Oh, uh…Nothing," he muttered after a moment, quickly turning away and glancing over his shoulder in a swift search of something that he was far from sure he was actually looking for. He had no idea the source of what had been tugging and crawling over his subconscious. He had nothing to go by but he guessed somewhere in the back of his mind that he would find it in whatever was not familiar. If he found something that actually caught his attention and made itself known as what was truly bothering him, what exactly was he supposed to do anyways? He was almost one hundred percent sure that it was not normal for something like that to happen. If he were alone, he probably would have flipped out at least a little by now. But he had his friend there with him and he was too dazed to do much more than look and see if he could find a source. What he would do past finding it he had no idea but it was kind of intriguing. Maybe that was another reason he remained more or less calm, slightly scared but not completely alert and full of apprehension.

"Yeah…okay…Hey, look, there's Mai! I didn't know she came here after school!"

Yugi turned his head and looked over at him and followed his line of vision, blinking as he took in the blonde senior. She was two yeas ahead of them and going on nineteen due to being born in a later month requiring she be held back a year before she could start school. The curly-haired platinum blonde was laughing that little musical giggle that always made the boy next to him practically drool in anticipation. She stood with a couple of other girls from their school, a redhead he thought he recognized from the beauty pageant he had been forced into watching with Joey and Tristan after Tristan's crush enrolled. The girl standing with them had glossy black hair who he was more or less relatively sure had transferred the end of the last year. All three of them were seniors and considered the best looking at the school.

But as he looked at them, a chill trickled down his back like spilled ice water, eliciting a shiver as he turned away again immediately. His eyes sought out anything he had missed before or anything that had taken residence among the others in the arcade. The ice slipped through his bones, becoming dangerously familiar far too quickly against his subconscious as it bit at him violently enough that he had to fight off a grimace. A small bit of pain radiated in the back of his skull, flashing and flaring out several times like lines of electricity. It pulsed along his sensitive nerves and receded again almost immediately, just enough to make itself known but no more than that.

Yugi rubbed his eyes more firmly, making his eyelids sting for a moment as he turned back. He blinked first at the screen in front of him where the kung fu fighter danced in victory and then slowly lifted his gaze towards the three seniors again. Relief swept through him like a gust of wind and he let out a small exhale that he made sure was too quiet for the blond next to him to catch as he continued looking towards the girls. Mai Valentine was still sometimes dubbed the Domino High Queen for her looks. She still had the brilliant platinum blonde hair that cascaded down her back in soft waves. The strands all curled upwards at the ends and stopped in a long V that settled just above her waist. He had always remembered her eyes as far more brilliant than they were when they had first met. Maybe it was because now that she wore that smoky eyeshadow and the dark eyeliner so often it made them so much bigger and far more expressive. He knew that the violet that made up her irises was sharp and cunning and devastatingly deep in shade. They were not nearly as pronounced back then as they were now, making them even more completely stunning by bringing out the fierce purple. Her nose was dainty and symmetrically-centered and her perfectly-shaped mouth was painted a deep red as opposed to the soft pink that her lips were naturally. Wave after wave was born from her center-parted hair and semi-curls were something that Yugi always had a habit of playing with when he was around her. The forelock in the center of her forehead was almost the same as his own but much longer. Her neck was still long and slender, with a somewhat deep collarbone. She still had that perfect posture that just screamed confidence and gave off the statement that she would never allow someone to walk all over her. And it all helped to give her a far more sensual aura than she already possessed with the way that she dressed outside of school. Most guys—teens or grown adults—tended to do as Joey was beside him, drool and gawk and go wide-eyed when she was within close proximity. Mai had such a sensual aura that it fell into her voice, a quality that Yugi often admired. When she opened her mouth and spoke, she had a strange pitch that came out somewhat raspy when she got flirtatious. And odds were if she opened her mouth, it came out heavily sensual. It was no secret that she was very quick to get that way when she spoke to someone.

It took him a moment to recognize the redhead that stood at her side as he generally avoided her. Kaoruko Himekoji was a girl with vibrant red hair like live flames in direct sunlight, falling in gentle yet defined waves to settle only a few inches past her somewhat tiny shoulders. From the front her face was heart-shaped but from the side it was sharp and defined. Hints of baby fat layered her cheeks and highlighted her dark green eyes, helping to dispel the gray hue that sometimes came with her outfits. Her eyes were not as sharp as Mai's but the color, as deep as evergreen leaves, made up for the lack of makeup she wore. Her collarbone lacked the depth that came with the blonde's, but her lips were a little plumper. They were colored bright pink, the normal shade she painted them in order to match the school uniform she wore. She was beautiful but she had a nasty temper, and her personality sometimes reminded him of his math teacher, Ms. Chono. She lacked the mole on her cheek that Joey always joked about in class, but their attitudes were somewhat similar. Their eyes even held a somewhat similar quality but his teacher's hair was darker red and lacked the volume that the teenage girl's held. The girl in front of him was rather mesmerizing in her own right, with an almost feral quality to accompany her choice of clothes and expression. He remembered that quality lingering in the dance she had done as her talent for the pageant. Her voice had a soft smoky quality that whistled softly in her audience's ears. It was what he imagined a snake's to be, seductive with a hint of menace and enticement that wrapped around you so securely you wouldn't willingly leave.

Vivian Wong had pin-straight black hair that reminded him too much of glossy raven feathers. It held a sheen to it that commonly made that comparison even more distinct in his mind whenever he caught sight of her. Her forehead was covered in chopped bangs in a somewhat feathery design that curved downwards towards the center but layered upwards towards her temples. Her hair was held in two separate strands akin to something of a pair of pigtails. She always had the same earrings on which he had heard her claim one more than one occasion were family heirlooms. They fell into long thin strips of metal that made soft whistling noises when she walked fast enough. Her waist was incredibly petite and her brilliant chocolate brown eyes were large but heavily styled with a shadow of kohl. It ran to her temples and disappeared in a sharp point. Her eyebrows mirrored the eyeliner's path, appearing thinner as they went further from the bridge of her button nose. Her lips were always bright pink no matter the outfit she wore and Yugi was relatively sure she had seen her wearing a kimono more often than not. A metal band was normally on her upper left arm and two large blue-violet and red-violet bangles rested on her right wrist. He thought maybe he had seen her with a fan once or twice with a fuzzy bright pink top like faux feather. And he had only ever seen it when he thought that she was flirting with someone. But the more he looked at her, the more he wondered if he had ever actually heard her _speak _rather than whine.

He shook the idea off after a moment to turn towards his friend and grin slyly in amusement. Joey was leaning so far forward, braced against the machine, that no one could mistake what he was looking toward. "You should go talk to her," he encouraged quietly, nearly laughing at the incredulous look he was given as the blond swung around to stare at him in response. Laughter bubbled up in the pit of his stomach, the blond's eyes far too wide to not be comical. "She's really nice."

"You've spoken to her before?" Joey demanded, looking ready to grab him by the shoulders and shake him violently. "What's she like?"

Yugi debated for a moment if he should tell him just how much he talked to her, but settled instead for a small shrug of his shoulders. Joey would figure out later if Mai told him. "She's…nice. Very nice. I don't really know what you want me to say exactly…"

The tall blond narrowed his eyes and searched his face, smirking widely before poking him in the shoulder roughly. The smaller boy had a vague idea that it would probably bruise on his pale skin. He blinked and trailed his eyes around as his spine tensed beneath his skin. Alarm surged through his system violently once more, but nothing popped out and he found himself beginning to deflate now. He had no idea if the source was going to be something that he could actually handle, but that didn't stop him from being curious about finding it.

"I knew you weren't a virgin."

Yugi froze, his face turning bright red in horror at the assumption. His jaw opened and closed unconsciously as he gagged and covered his mouth with an immediate shake of his head. "Oh my god, _no_," he choked out, shaking his head harder and feeling his face twist into a disgusted grimace. Mai had always been one of those girls who sometimes dipped into the art of seduction and flaunted her skills when she was given the chance. But he probably would have died if something had happened between the two of them. "No, that is not what…Ew, Joey."

"What? 'Ew'? Are you _serious_, dude? She is _hot_."

Yugi fought off the urge to curl his lip back in blatant disgust once more. A shudder threatened to course down his spine and he wrinkled his nose in an effort to suppress it. "Not to me she isn't."

"Right, forgot you were into Tea," he muttered dismissively, shrugging it off and turning away again to give the blonde his full attention once more. The smaller teen pursed his lips and glanced between his friend and the girl he was drooling over. He dug his teeth into his cheek, uncomfortable as he looked at the blond next to him. Tea and Joey seemed to have some kind of feud that existed between them at the moment. He thought it might have been for his crassness during homeroom when he had all but shoved a porn tape into Yugi's hands right in font of her and Tristan, but he was not completely sure. It was just as likely she reserved some of her dislike for the blond because of his bullying him before which had brought on Ushio's protective services. Yugi really had no true concept of what they appeared to be fighting about and so had resolved to stay out of the situation by whatever means necessary. He planned to protect himself from the task of having to wade through all of the potential drama that existed between them. He was more or less sure that she and Joey just did not see eye to eye and maybe they never would. And that was fine by him as long as neither of them dragged him into it.

Yugi had never kept it much of a secret that he favored her over other girls. It was not something he was ashamed of but it also wasn't something he could put a label on with complete certainty. He didn't think it was puppy love or even a true crush because it was never steady and it failed more often than it stayed afloat. He thought maybe it was just his familiarity with her that made it so difficult to name. It was only just enough to make it somewhat obvious he felt more towards her than the other girls they were often around. She was that rather regular-looking brunette, the typical girl next door that novels were written about. Her hair was a shade of chestnut brown that rested between light and dark but appeared different some days. And her eyes were large, painted blue with small flecks of something like deep brown around her pupils. Long lashes were emphasized by the light use of mascara and helped to highlight her heart-shaped face. Her cheeks held soft tones of baby fat over her well-defined cheekbones but seemed leaner towards her rounded chin. Despite the definition of her cheekbones they did not distract from the symmetrical quality her face sported and failed to draw attention immediately upon meeting her. She had the body of a dancer but it was not completely noticeable at times and her overall physical shape was somewhat more pronounced than other girls'. She lacked the feral grace that Kaoruko possessed or the devastatingly keen sense of beauty that came with Mai or the too-skinny and overly dominant trait that came with Vivian.

But Joey had a thing for the very many girls that he had watched in his wide variety of porn tapes and Tea was far from that category. He liked the girls with the larger-than-life breasts that seemed almost like they could suffocate someone if they got too close. He liked the strong legs attached to waists that were either far too thick or too small to be considered "normal". He had a thing for the perfect hair which had to be long enough for him to play with and cascade around the pillows while they were panting beneath him. Joey was a virgin but he had his eyes set on the perfect girl and for him that just so happened to be Mai and no one else as far as he was concerned. Yugi had never argued or objected his opinion, just let him talk about what he would do with her in bed and how he thought she probably liked it rough. He failed to talk to him about Tea or other girls and he didn't bother with trying to point out that Mai was not some kind of sex machine as he seemed to be deluded into thinking.

"No, I've just talked to her a few times. I actually tutor her on Fridays," Yugi mumbled in response with a slow shake of his head. Pain like a fresh stab in the back of his skull, cold as ice, hit him for a split second before seemingly retreating permanently. The feel of whatever it was that had been covering his subconscious, cold but almost like a thick blanket of mist, seemed to disappear and he almost panicked. He had been hoping against everything reasonable that he would find the source. He wanted to see what it was that had been there, stroking at his thoughts. He wanted more than anything to see what had been trying to shift itself inside of his head and the idea that he wouldn't know scared him more than if it turned out to be some kind of disease. The moment he felt that small bite of panic, it came back in the form of a tiny pinprick of an ice shard. Discomfort made him dig his fingers further into thighs even as it once again took on something synonymous of the beginnings of a headache. Now he just hoped that nothing would happen with his sight again in meantime. He knew for a fact that he would vomit if it came over him so abruptly a second time. He waited silently for a long minute, steeling himself just in case but trying to make himself seem a little open and welcoming with an effort to sit back and relax. Yugi prepared himself for that strange foreign heartbeat to reach his ears again, suddenly desperate for its strange melody. But nothing happened and he couldn't tell if he was disappointed or relieved. He tried to focus on one rather than the other, drawing more on relief as a minute ticked by and left him with a somewhat hollow sensation.

"Tell her that her hair looks nice or something."

Joey gave him a wry look as Yugi bit back some laughter. "Don't use my advice against me. That was good advice. I swear you could have gotten a kiss out of her if you had just complimented her a little," he grumbled, rolling his eyes and smirking playfully. "You missed your chance."

"Tea was not about to kiss me and you know that," he laughed, rolling his eyes and glancing around once more with a quick sweep of his eyes, searching and finding nothing once more. "Besides, she wasn't even happy with the curls. And I had already told her that I thought they looked nice."

"See, no. Nice is _not _how you compliment to get laid. You tell them that they're smoking hot and sexy and you might just get there." He held up his index finger and smirked, winking at him. "And I think this my cue to go in and steal Mai's heart."

"Good luck," he snickered, nodding encouragingly as the blond straightened and gave him a playful scoff.

"Luck? I don't need luck. _Observe_, young grasshopper," he announced, winking and then turning to walk off towards the blonde with a confidence forced into his gait. Yugi smiled in amusement at the way his back was straightened and his chin was raised slightly. The smaller boy shook his head and watched until he and the blonde were talking, Mai's expression slightly surprised but openly pleased. He saw Vivian and Kaoruko share something between them before wandering off when Mai spoke to them. He had to admit that the action struck him as somewhat odd but he didn't honestly care enough to question it. It would have distracted him from observing the blond until he was sure that they were both having an actual conversation and Joey wouldn't run off at any moment to talk to him again. He smiled a little, seeing that the blond was working some kind of charm over her, and then turned back to the screen in front of him. Yugi watched the pixilated fighter dance on screen in challenge, flexing and gesturing towards the message at his feet saying "Pay a quarter to play". He did have a few that he could spare and it wasn't as if the game was boring at any rate. He often spent after school hours just playing it with any challenger that popped up to fight him. It would be a good enough distraction to keep him from growing bored or worrying about Joey in the meantime.

He slipped a few coins into the slot to avoid paying later and pressed the button to activate the controls. The theme music thrummed softly in the air around him as he looked it over. He caught the tail ends of some shouts of a couple of students around him as he started to pick his character but the pressure in the back of his head hadn't grown and he was starting to doubt that anything would happen with it.

He was working on his fourth opponent when he heard someone moving from behind him to his side. He felt the disturbance of the air from their movements, beating into his back like a gust of wind that should have been soft but nearly knocked the oxygen out of his lungs. Yugi didn't look up, figuring that they would go for another seat near him, to play the game at his side. He didn't look away from the black-belted white-suited kung fu artist he was controlling. The sounds of punches and kicks and "K.O." shooting through the air and across the screen helped him to focus more solely. He didn't think they cared for him looking up and smiling at them before going back to his game anyways.

He blinked as the sound of weight being shifted caught his ear. They took the seat next to him, clothes softly rustling against the smooth stool top making his eyes widen. They hadn't moved further along in the row of games lined back to back. It was hardly the fact that they had chosen the seat beside him. After all, he was used to some other students doing so to see if they could learn a few tricks from him while he was playing. It was the fact that he heard it over his game, over the sounds of grunts and fighting and loud theme music that should have made the noise completely nonexistent. It should have been buried beneath his game's audio. His spine tensed beneath his skin as his stomach flipped and bile rose in his throat and scorched the muscle. Alarms blared in his head, pain soaring with the noise as it echoed viciously.

He tightened his grip on the analog stick in front of him until his hand started to hurt and the grooves burned his fingers like open flames. His skin was crawling, as if it had been set on fire suddenly, and a low pulse of pain throbbed in his head. He ignored the newcomer pointedly, continuing his game despite the terror that gripped his stomach and squeezed. His head spun for a moment, mouth growing dry as he recognized the fear that had made his heart skip and his lungs constrict painfully.

Yugi stared at the belt around his character's waist, trying to focus on it entirely, swallowing hard but trying not to appear nervous. He hadn't been prepared. He had been curious but he had not been prepared.

"Hmm…you seem pretty good at this game."

Yugi stopped short, his movements ceasing altogether on the screen as he blinked and forced himself to relieve some of the tension in his shoulders and aching spine. He folded his tongue against the roof of his mouth, ice traveling down his throat as he breathed. He needed to focus on the match he was about to start in. But the remnants of the statement echoed heavily in his ears, wisps of commentary. The voice was deep and husky, lilting in ways that Yugi didn't know it could. It was achingly bottomless and threatened to send him plummeting straight into its depths, all of it furthering the effect of the baritone pitch it possessed. "I, um…I play it a lot," he admitted with a small laugh that he could only compare to a choked breath. The small teen fought back a broken groan at his inability to speak properly and his ignorance towards the initial decision to ignore them altogether. But if he had ignored him, Yugi couldn't see himself coming out of that very easily. Perhaps it would have turned into something much worse than just his discomfort with the other boy next to him. Stumbling and stuttering through his sentences was something that normally pissed others off brutally for whatever reason. But ignoring another's presence—especially when spoken to—normally called upon the instinct to react and demand attention. Stuttering normally at least got them to leave him alone or earned him nasty little snickers and ruthless teasing. Ignorance probably would have gotten him a black eye or a busted lip, maybe broken ribs if he was really unlucky. Yugi had not stuttered in years, for so long that it seemed almost foreign that he was even considering it in the moment, but the shock that had come with that voice had startled him enough to fall back into it.

The person next to him let out a content hum, a deep soothing noise that made his spine tingle with confusion and warmth. He blinked and forced himself halfheartedly to concentrate on his game again, hoping that the conversation would end there. He prayed mentally to every god he knew of—Greek, Roman, Egyptian, and even the ones from the Magic card series—that it would end there. He swallowed hard as the reality of the situation slammed into him again. He wasn't ready for this. He had overestimated himself when he had thought he would be able to see the source of the discomfort in the back of his head. He had been stupid to think he could handle the being that had brought forth the parasite that was crawling through his thoughts. But, by the gods, if his curiosity had not burned beneath his skin with a need that left him dizzy. He couldn't help but want to risk a glance towards the other boy but the thought vanished immediately when he heard the shifting of his weight. It was soft and low and only recognizable by the rustle of his clothing being wrinkled in new ways from the change of position, the sound of the stool being weighted down more firmly.

His nose was bombarded by something that he could only ever describe as ice—simple and pure and overly intoxicating—wrapped around something like chilled moonlight—fresh and brilliant and lingering somewhere between dark and light—and hiding an undertone of ever-present darkness—seductive and cold and infinite. It was intoxicating and dangerous, sending chills down his spine that he knew were not only fear. Where he would have listened to his instincts at any other moment in his life, this scent drew him in with the exotic extremity and unfamiliarity that came with it. It made his pulse race, exhilaration coursing through him for some reason, euphoric in every sense of the word. It drew at his very being and seemed to wrap around him so completely that it was impossible for him to turn away.

"Yes, I've noticed," the other boy murmured and Yugi blinked, gawking at the screen as his character took a hit and went flying to the other side of the platform, health points disappearing immediately. He was going to lose again. He went to grab the controls and try to turn the situation around when the smell got stronger and his hands were pushed away. He shuddered at the chill that met his skin, almost like clammy flesh brushing against his, but lacking the perspiration that came with it. He stared down at the hands that had taken place of his, absorbing the definition of long slender digits that looked—for only a small split second—nearly skeletal in their pale hue before seeming to draw in a vibrant, beautiful shade of golden-bronze. It was a rich color, warm to the core in shade, and gave off a strange sense of security that sent Yugi's mind into a race. He was well aware that it was his own desperation to find something normal where there really wasn't much to grasp at in the first place.

The hands pulled away and Yugi followed them to the very edge of the machine and no further, unsure of what more to do. The game went off in a chime of victory, telling him that he had won and he breathed in deeply once, exhaling a weak "Thank you" that earned him a deep chuckle that sounded oddly warm yet dangerously hollow all at once. He shook off a tremor and leaned forward to grip the controller again, slightly unnerved by the dulled warmth that lingered there against the plastic. The smell that had burned itself into his memory so abruptly was no longer keen and seemed nearly nonexistent. But he knew he was there, watching, and he did not need to turn his head to know; it was impossible not to. The area around him seemed blanketed in cold, lapping at his skin and seeping its way through his clothing like wind for several small split seconds before fading away again entirely. But even if that wasn't in the forefront of Yugi's mind, there would have been the fact that his aura in general seemed all-consuming and dangerous, enticing to the core and invigorating. No one could miss that.

And Yugi had no doubt that the boy knew this as well. Why no one else seemed to react to this was a mystery to him as it was impossible to miss. It was burning like dry ice against their skins. It had to be. It was like some kind of powerful force—a god of some sort—walking among them and sitting under the guise of human flesh.

He shook the thought off with a small quivering breath that seemed strangled in his lungs as he forced himself to focus on his game. He narrowed his eyes at the sudden realization that this boy beside him had no intentions of leaving anytime soon. The frustration that came with the thought helped just enough to push him through the next round despite the feel of his lungs straining in his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut of a moment and gripped the controller tighter. Yugi fought off the urge to turn his head and face him, knowing that if he looked then it became more real than he thought he could truly deal with. If he didn't look, he could maybe convince himself that he was just having an off day. He wouldn't have to try to talk sense into himself or look for confirmation of the strange sensation that had not ceased to announce itself to him.

He listened to a shift of clothing, _felt _the breath that left the other boy as if it were his own, and then went completely still. An inhale almost like a tiger scenting fresh blood made his heart lurch. The nape of his neck stung like someone had pricked him and his skin had falling asleep. The muscle that touched the bottom of his jaw was inappropriately cold for a split second but drew warmth as it traveled further along his face. It took a strategically horrifyingly slow pace upwards, flattening out and then moving straight to his temple and towards his hairline before finally pulling away.

Images flashed through his head for a long moment. Tigers eating their catch. Wolves snarling with every tooth shown. Blood dripping from long canines. Froth bubbling out of a rabid dog's mouth. Incisors bared and cutting their way through his mind.

Yugi trembled before he knew what he was doing, his skin twitching as he turned his head without a single hesitation. He stared at the other boy with a shocked expression, his lips falling into an "o" shape and his mouth opening slightly to grasp at a weak inhale. His nerves tingled and burned, numbed with horror as he stared at the other boy. At first he thought that perhaps he was looking at a creature out of storybooks, something akin a demon. And the way that his thin lips curved up into a disgustingly sultry, predatory smirk only reinforced the idea. His body froze in place and his mind trembled as his reality shook, falling into a state of disconnect.

But…why would a demon…look so much like him?

He would have mistaken the other boy before him as his reflection in a mirror if not for the fact that the other boy had sharper features and a more definite gaze that bore into his like knives stabbing into his skin. He was taller—he had to be; his leaner build and the position of his legs said he had a few inches over him—and his hair was wilder. His eyes were as sharp as daggers with color like fresh blood and the cruelest gleam he had ever seen before. He was a distinctly matured jaw, beautifully carved and sharp lines of bones beneath smooth perfectly shaded skin, with thin lips that made the most dangerous smirk. It was lopsided and disarming in every way, almost feigning a long-time familiarity akin friendship in the easy pull of his lips. He was cunning sharp teeth when he parted his lips and showed off his canines in a sultry expression of white enamel and the hint of a pink tongue and seemingly bloodstained gums. He was a gaze of burning fire like liquid rubies and vibrant dancing flames with an intensity and depth that held far too much wisdom and strength. His pupils bled, seemingly out of center and stretched in every direction so that the circular shape was lost in comparison to staring at a burst of light in surreal darkness. Cruelty and laughter and contempt and open brutality lingered around he edges of a dangerously feral predatory aura framed by long dark lashes. He was sharp thin eyebrows furrowed to enunciate the state of mockery as his nose wrinkled and he sneered silently in laughter with that startling smirk plastered to his face. He was long goldenrod bangs like knives that stretched to the left and dropped to his jaw on the right with a streak of lightning traveling through pitch blackness beneath tips of fire. Two other streaks rose above his bangs and made him that much more alluringly dark and menacingly beautiful to the eye, all-encompassing and mesmerizing. He was…the older, red-eyed version of Yugi himself…

"Oh my god…"

"You're not too far off," the other boy snorted as his eyes flashed and his smirk widened. He leaned forward to touch his jaw and tip his chin up slightly to look him over with a cynical scrutinizing glare. "And look at _you_! You're all baby fat and soft curves. I was expecting more, honestly."

"Excuse me?" Yugi breathed out, shaking his head and trying to banish some of the shock and confusion that lingered in his system. The fingers resting beneath his chin curved upwards so that his nails dug into the tender flesh for a moment. He stared at the other boy, taking in his posture and seeing the way that though he was tipping his face up, the red-eyed teen sat with his back straight. His legs were partially open, a knee tipped further forwards, eyes keen as they bore into his, other arm resting on his thigh. And Yugi took a moment to recognize the slight tilt of his head, the way that he openly challenged him with that mere position. It was something akin what one would give another when they had encroached on their territory. "What does that mean?"

It was only after the other teen's eyes lowered themselves that he even realized that his thumb was moving over the corner of his lips, coaxing them open with gentle touches. He ignored him blatantly, instead glancing up at him for a moment so that their eyes locked. Yugi found himself dizzy and falling under some kind of thick haze as they flickered and flared like open flames. He was staring into never-ending spirals of red that burned into his soul and engraved itself there. He was drowning in pools of bright red blood, choking and flailing and struggling.

And Yugi swore he could see himself in those distorted pupils, soft lines of flesh and baby fat with wide eyes and long lashes. He was a horrified expression and long bangs of goldenrod…almost the complete opposite of the boy in every way but the hair. He swore he saw the live terror and mystification that existed inside of him, swirling and warring with each other, confused and drowning him from the inside.

He felt a tremor rack his fame as the other teen tilted his head and his nose burned momentarily with the thin frosty scent that came with the action. His mind raced with fear, not sure of what to do and half-expecting the boy in front of him to lean forward and dig his sharp teeth into his neck. Maybe he would eat his flesh while he screamed and writhed on the floor, bled and thrashed with no hope of survival…

"Well, don't you have a beautiful little imagination?" the boy purred softly, a distinct rumble in the back of his throat that made Yugi choke in shock. Had he spoken out loud or was he…? No, he couldn't hear his thoughts…could he?

He shifted a little closer, his back still held completely straight and stiff in challenge and his head tilted so that he seemed to loom over him. His breath came out like an icy mist as it fanned his lips and left him fighting off another hint of numbness. His face twisted into a cruel smirk, voice dripping as he murmured, "Oh, but I can. And how beautifully deceiving your face is to your mind, don't you think? Blood and guts spilled in a public place. Me eating your heart out…I wouldn't have figured you could think with such disgusting vividness."

Yugi shivered and moved to reach out to push him away, hands firm even as his mind seemed to shake once more with the new reality of the boy's words and the intrusion promised with their existence. He settled a light grip on his shoulders but could not find it in himself to push the other away, instead breathing shakily at the shock that assaulted him with the action. This boy or creature or whatever he was had knowledge over him, something that he couldn't fathom let alone tap into as well. He was delving into his mind, scraping and searching and bleeding his thoughts for the last ounce of shape and being they had, parasitic in every way. He could feel him somewhere in there as he tried to come to grips with the very idea. He could feel the chill seeping into his skull and furthering its reach among his thoughts and memory. It lingered and mapped out a path through his mind, digging into his being and holding him captive from the inside…

He laughed softly, as if Yugi had just told him a brilliant joke that was just funny enough to elicit a response though not a big one, and the smaller teen froze in place as he leaned forward and their mouths connected. He was breathing into him at first, random wisps of cold darkness and refreshing ice that seemed to travel straight through his bones. It seeped through his ribs and into his lungs, his heart, some kind of surreal sensation like his soul was leaving his body for a split second.

And then his lips moved, soft where he had thought they would be as hard and sharp as the rest of him, smooth and warm unlike the tongue that had scraped against his cheek. Or the hands that had touched him in order to take control of the game he was still sitting in front of, whose shrill "game over" theme he could still hear buzzing in the back of his mind as if drifting through dense fog.

_Warm and soft_…

Yugi trembled at the whisper that spread through his mind in a fragmented thought that he couldn't find the strength to focus on. Confusion and growing fear spread through him slowly as the other boy continued kissing him. His fingers tightened from where they rested on his slim shoulders, perhaps to the point that they would bruise. But he still could not find it in himself to push him away like he knew instinctively he should have. He was busy staring at the other boy's face from beneath his lashes. He was busy searching his golden-bronze skin for something to draw his focus and give him enough strength to push him away.

He was cold and bottomless, like moonlight on a winter night, too strange for him to truly understand as his tongue pressed into his mouth. His free hand trailed along his spine before clenching a fistful of his school uniform, sinking his nails into his skin through the thin fabrics after a long moment. He felt the stool moving before he could recognize it or the screech it let out and he blinked as he was pulled closer. The other boy's knees slipped between his and spread his legs open until he was uncomfortable and nerves drilled into him. He was pulled flush against the other boy too quickly for him to even consider what was going on. His grip was too tight to be comfortable and the nails in his back and chin dug into his flesh further.

The other boy paused just long enough to breathe raggedly through his nose without pulling his lips from his. Yugi felt a small bit of alarm at the fact that he had failed to recognize his own lightheadedness from being denied air. He pushed, relieved went he found that he did not fight him, instead pulling away with his lips curled back to show off his sharp canines. A soft snarl separated the air between them and hummed in his eardrums even as the look in those red eyes screamed frustration. The smaller boy breathed in harshly, lost about what to do at any point aside from draw in as much air as he could.

The burning gaze flashed with impatience, a soft snarl leaving his mouth and making Yugi blink once more in alarm. He squeezed his eyes shut for a long moment, drawing in some kind of false security. For a split second he felt so odd and disconnected that he couldn't even tell if his heart was still working, forcing him to focus in on the noise that it should have been making. The soft thumping met his ears, allowing him a hint of relaxation at the knowledge that it was working despite his momentary doubts. It shook slightly, beating far too quickly with anticipation and exhilaration, apprehension, but it was steady despite the chill that had settled in his chest. He almost laughed at himself, truly tempted to, but the entire situation was far too strange for him to make the noise come forth no matter his attempts.

The boy shifted in his seat, the noise startling him enough to make his eyes snap open to stare at the other. He found himself drawn into a glare of dangerously gleaming red orbs that burned into his for a moment before he smirked and pulled him forward once more. Yugi grabbed at his shoulders a second time, unsure of what else to do in his state of shock and panic. He couldn't fight the mouth that once again came over his, melting into it. He was not even sure if it was the strength that the boy's aura exerted or if it was the situation. But still he was held captive and incapable of shoving him away as he would have with someone else.

The kisses were not harsh or dominating in any way, but it was alarming and terrifying all at once regardless. It spiked at his senses and made him squirm viciously with frustration with his inaction. Especially with the way that things seemed to click and slide into place in his mind. It stirred at the inner depths of his thoughts, a familiar sensation as if he had done it before. It felt completely fluid and simple, as if the entire thing brought him serenity and surrender, a strange sweetness. And, for a moment or two, it felt as if he were giving in to something more powerful than himself, more compelling than the will to live or the fear of death. But it didn't stop the sense of foreboding that was slowly settling in the pit of his stomach. It burned its way into the center of his mind and the confusion slowly began to pick at his sluggish senses once more.

Were those even his emotions?

He didn't think they could be. They were so disconnected and jumbled and broken in so many places that they were bleeding into one another. They seemed to build momentarily into distorted pieces of shattered glass with edges as sharp as knives before disappearing all at once. And that did not make sense to him. Yugi had never felt such a sensation before. But he had also never experienced the fear he had felt the moment that this boy had come near him. The taller boy dragged his nails down along the ridges of his spine, paying extra attention to the grooves between, and the pleasure sent him into a spiral. A strangled noise crawled its way upwards from the back of his throat at the action; the amusement and strange elation that came with this was certainly not his either.

Fuck, so what was his exactly?

Yugi squirmed and breathed out a broken moan into the other boy's mouth when he was pulled closer still. The hand on his chin moved down to his hips and traveled along the line of his pelvic bone to cup him through the fabric. Small tremors ran through him from the light touches, his body unfamiliar with the sensation of another's hands on him there, tracing such small but intricate patters through his jeans. Did he tell him to stop? He was growing unsure of whether he should. As wrong as the entire situation was, something about it felt a little right—possibly because he had never had someone touch him there or really anywhere before—and it was a jagged piece of a sharp reality that bit at his entire body with shock and left him breathless.

The other teen pulled away, moving his mouth to his ear and hissing, "Want to bleed?"

"_Huh_?"

He was shoved roughly backwards but the hand still around his back held him in place even as the stool crashed beneath him and his flailing brought the other boy with him to the floor. The rattling of the stools made his ears ring and he swore he could feel the vibrations from the metal colliding with the tile, and Yugi breathed raggedly. Startled confusion slammed into him with enough force to make him cringe even as his ears continued ringing with the loud vibrations. What the hell?

"They aren't here with us," he growled into his ear, forcing him flat on his back before he could truly think about trying to attempt a chance at fleeing. His eyes flickered around again, thoroughly confused out of his mind and feeling sick with it. This entire thing seemed like something in a story and the question of what the other meant by that statement made his heart skip and his body feel stiff with discomfort. Yugi's eyes slowly slid towards the other boy, a strange eerie glow making up the ring around those disturbing pupils. The black receded slightly as the irises took on a gleam like lights beneath a swimming pool, sparkling and seeming to twist around without form.

"What does that mean?" he demanded after a long moment, squeezing his shoulders and searching his face wildly for any clue as to the meaning behind his words. The other boy ignored him to situate himself between his legs. His knees pressed on either side of his hips and his shins forced his thighs apart in a way that was painful but sent waves of euphoria crashing through him. He took a moment to steady his breathing some, to try to collect his thoughts. But all he could do was hear those words circulate and bounce around inside his skull, desperate for attention and refusing to cease. "They're right there."

"We see them but they cannot see us," the other boy murmured in a low husky curl of his voice, lifting his head to reveal the cold smirk that claimed his lips as he glanced over at the blond. Yugi twisted awkwardly beneath him, having to wiggle his torso and stretch himself out completely to be able to see past the other boy's shoulder and spot Joey. He turned back to the smaller boy and Yugi blinked at the feel of the other boy's gaze burning into his face before he slowly looked back to him. He stared into blood red eyes that narrowed into slits of gleaming garnet before the hand that held his shirt slipping around his back. Fingers scratched a path along his skin that made him arch his spine in pleasure, breathless as he gasped softly and the other smirked widely.

"What the hell are you doing?" Yugi managed to spit out from beneath a moan of pleasure as the other's hand started to work at massaging him through his jeans. He reached up to push him away but a small wave of pleasure and desire swept through him, gentle as a breeze of wind. His hand instead slipped beneath the cotton of his shirt and felt along the knobs of his arched spine. So cold…his skin was so _cold _and soft, like some kind of frozen satin or smoothed out ice. Why was he so cold?

He let out a low noise like a snarl, lips twisting up to show off his teeth and gums that still looked like fresh blood. His gaze gleamed dangerously with a feral light that gave him the small answer of something that had been bothering him in the back of his mind since the very moment he had first locked eyes with the other boy. The darkness that made up those strange pupils, the way he held himself, the chill that came with him, why Yugi had been far more startled by him than he had first thought possible.

He looked, in this moment, with his eyes glowing and shadowed, as if he had no trace of humanity left inside of him. He looked as if he were a shell of a person with a foreign entity harboring his body.

The boy seemed to hear his thoughts once more because now he smirked and purred, "Smart little Yugi" in a voice that made his heart dip as it curled its way through his ears. He blinked and shook his head slightly, pulling his hand out from beneath his shirt to grab at his skull gently with his hands. The snarl that came out sounded almost startled instead of aggravated and Yugi ignored it in order to pull his mouth into his. He wondered why he chose to do so somewhere in the very back corners of his mind. But the only one that came to him was the pleasure he felt and the desire to, as the other boy had put it, bleed.

The reality of the situation burned at his subconscious and tore through him like razors cutting into his flesh. But he wouldn't stop and his grip never loosened. The boy breathed out in a sharp noise like a frustrated sigh that Yugi ignored steadily in favor of lacing his tongue with his. It earned him a spark of surprise that festered beneath his skin in the forefront of his mind and made him want to grin. The boy probably hadn't guessed that he would do something like this, but this still was not enough to make him push him away.

He wasn't sure if he was going to attempt forcing him away by scaring him into the action or if he was actually going to work to find some kind of middle ground for them to balance precariously upon. Obviously the boy had come to him for something, right? Because, now that Yugi took it into account, he had specifically waited until Joey had wandered off to come to him.

The kiss was sloppy and inexperienced, lacking the fluidity that the other teen seemed to possess, a predatory grace that Yugi simply didn't have. The boy above him didn't truly try, seemingly too startled by his actions. And Yugi had no experience with this past what he had just done with the teen himself and a peck on the cheek when he was younger. So he was stumbling along in the dark and the other teen was not willing to attempt to oblige to his tentative coaxing. He moved his left leg enough to kick the boy's knee into his wrist, enough of a hint to pull him over his thighs and straddle his hips.

"Who are you?" he finally managed to rasp out, pulling away just enough to breathe against his lips and keep his grasp firm among the silky soft strands of his hair. The other boy stayed still for a moment and failed to speak. Yugi watched him closely with darkened eyes, studying and hoping he would say something to give him some kind of idea of what to do. His instincts were screaming for attention but he couldn't decipher what it was they were telling him to do. He couldn't understand nor find it in himself to truly make out what it was his instincts shouted. Because, when it came down to it, Yugi was lost and had no idea of what he should have been doing o what they were trying to tell him—it was not to run or fight as it would have been for anyone else. But it was strong, devastatingly, and it raged beneath his skin, something primal and vicious and impossible to ignore. Something that he thought the other boy shared though it was impossible to be sure.

The red eyes widened slightly as if he had just triggered something in the back of his mind and the taller teen jerked away from him. Yugi grasped at his shirt tightly, trying to keep his grip on him, struggling because something in the back of his mind said he was going to escape before he got his answer. Red eyes flashed murderously and his lips curled back to show off his teeth. His incisors looked sharper and almost canine-like for a split second, but it was gone again immediately. His grip tightened further but the teen slipped from his grasp like beads of water and Yugi swore he felt something curling around his finger for a split second. It was cold like ice, causing him to blink and gawk in shock. The red-eyed teen disappeared completely as if he had never existed in the first place. The sounds around him became loud and undiluted, almost pounding into his skull and festering like an open infection before it dulled again to its normal range.

He looked around immediately again, searching blindly without the desire to pull himself to his feet, feeling oddly sick and disoriented. His head swam for a moment and his blood coursed through his veins far too quickly. His heart pounded as his lungs suddenly struggled to supply him with enough oxygen. For a split second he swore that his vision had become inverted again. There was only darkness with white lines that were far too sharp and jagged, mimicking broken glass and knife points. And it all awaited the moment he pricked himself on one and bled.

"Yug, what the hell are you doing on the ground?" Joey asked, half-laughing and more than slightly concerned though he didn't move towards him. He remained in place at Mai's side, staring with the most concerned of brown eyes. The blonde next to him smiled with a teasing expression but her eyes spoke volumes of worry as he looked at them blankly.

"I just fell off my stool," he replied, forcing a laugh and climbing to his feet to dust himself off before glancing at the screen he had formerly been seated in front of. Something in the back of his mind screamed for attention, fear and adrenaline pumping through him for a moment. He realized, belatedly, that the chill of ice that had crossed through him before was completely gone.

Yugi stared at the dead character on the continue screen, the numbers that were rapidly depleting in value, and chewed his cheek before looking at his friend once more. Joey had turned away and was back to talking to Mai but he could feel it when the blond turned his attention to him occasionally with worried glances. He smiled at him weakly in response before turning away again to stare at the screen before him.

Warm and soft…

He stared at the screen, his eyes starting to burn from the bright colors. That had not been him who had thought that, had it?

It had been the boy, the one who looked so much like him and vanished into thin air…

Yugi bit his lip until blood coated his tongue. The coppery liquid flooded his mouth and left him in a momentary daze. He had bled when he was with him. He had been unable to stop himself from fully embracing the pain that came with it. But now he was beginning to feel a small spike of exhaustion creeping through his bones. It was pleasurable and disgusting and now that he had a moment to truly wrap his mind around the idea of what he had just done, he was finding his exhaustion pushed away by fear.

"Hey, Joey?"

"Yeah?"

Yugi looked over after a moment and offered a small grin. He had to make himself seem more relaxed. And he thanked the gods for the lack of tremble in his voice. "I think I'm going to go ahead and go home. I need to make sure I finish my homework. Chono is really riding my ass over the last math test we had."

The blond blinked and frowned. "Oh yeah, sure, just give me a—"

"No, I think I'll go alone. No need to cut a day at the arcade short for me," he stated, smiling again before grabbing his backpack from where it rested beneath the machine. For a moment he felt as if something had slipped from his mind or something was just completely off. But he shook it off immediately, not wanting to dwell. There was only so much he could do to keep sane if he dwelled on something like this. Then again, with the exit the boy had taken, he doubted he had any sanity left.

"You sure, man? I don't mind going with you, you know…"

Yugi nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure. I think I can manage walking a couple of blocks alone," he teased, winking at Mai before walking out. The two of them would probably be there for a while as it was. But Yugi swore he could still hear Joey just wondering about what it was between the two of them. He figured he would get a good laugh out of it later when Mai told him—well, if he could get her to go out with him in the first place, anyways. She had always told him she would make him work for it if he was actually worth dating. And he had to admit he really hoped he was, if only because he didn't want to have to hear about how she had not even given him a real chance.

As he had been expecting, the moment he managed to relax even slightly his mind circulated immediately right back to the red-eyed boy. He had guessed it would happen. It was one of those things that he didn't want to be fixated with but it refused to be left alone. And, as terrifying as it was, he had to admit somewhere deep inside of him he thought he had never felt something that strongly before in his life. It was impossible for him to actually compare that intensity to something that seemed by far much more lacking. As it was, growing up he had always been worried that maybe he felt things in a way that could only be counted as halfway. It was his theory for not feeling crushed whenever Tea seemed to like someone else. It was his explanation for drifting in and out of his crush on the brunette. It was his thought on why his self-pleasuring wasn't nearly as addicting as Joey claimed it was for him. It was as if he had never gotten the full experience of adrenaline or fear or excitement. He didn't know the taste of full happiness or sorrow. And it had always troubled him but he had never told anyone about it before.

He had never been able to find it in himself to tell someone about the idea that he had been experiencing things only halfway. He didn't know how to phrase it though that was the least of his worries. In all actuality, he was sometimes afraid that it would slip out suddenly, that someone would think he was mental and he would end up being admitted. He was terrified of the idea, always had been. And now he was more or less sure that if he was not careful he would lose his mind.

How did someone vanish like that?

Had he hallucinated the boy's disappearance?

Had he hallucinated the boy's entire existence?

He shook the idea off, instead kicking a stone ahead of him and trying to focus on anything else could run across. A car honked as it passed by a kid on a bicycle further up the street and he watched them curiously. When he had been twelve he had nearly gotten himself hit by a car while crossing the street. His parents had freaked out brutally and he had witnessed the sight of his worried grandpa's face. Yugi himself, however, had gotten over it almost immediately. He had never even focused on it even as it had happened. The fear, even then, had not been nearly as strong as it had the moment that the boy had stepped into his personal space. The pain in the back of his head from where he had seemed to brush against his subconscious like that was so much stronger and more brutal than any kind of physical pain he had ever endured. It far overpowered that of Ushio's punches and kicks.

It had felt as if something was festering somewhere deep inside of him, killing him from the back of his mind rather than making him bleed. But all of it had been intensified in ways that he had never experienced before—the fear, the shock. It had amplified the very fact that the boy was enticing to the core. It had drawn him in further than anything he had ever been exposed to before. Aside from the Millennium Puzzle he had been given when he was eight, he doubted that anything had gathered his attention and held it in such a way. Never had a _person _managed to enrapture him so much that he had drowned in emotion and forgotten how to breathe in the midst of everything.

And he had kissed back. That fact alone meant something as well, possibly more than anything else. He had been raised by a mother who believed that kisses were far more intimate than sex could ever be. He had always been told that regardless of intimacy, both of them had to have meaning or he would regret it later.

Yugi tilted his head and debated the thought of his decision to kiss the other boy back. Did he regret doing so? Technically, no, but now that he was away from him, he did not find anything out of it either. It was just something that hadn't struck him as important in the moment. And trying to wrap his mind around it and analyze it gave him only indifference towards the entire subject. Or maybe…maybe indifference was just how he always felt. Honestly, he felt no different now than he did when he was with his friend or around others.

He stopped short for a second, trying to find something to grasp at and center himself to remind him that he was not completely emotionless all of the time. Hadn't he been embarrassed when his teacher had gone off on him during class for having done poorly on his test? Or perhaps he had simply gone through the notions of it in order to feign the emotion that he knew he should have experienced in that moment.

No, that wasn't possible, was it?

No, that would have made him a sociopath.

Or an emotionless robot.

Yugi furrowed his brows and shook his head slowly, swallowing hard as he turned the corner and his molars dug into his cheek in frustration. No, he had felt emotions but maybe most of the time he just fell back into indifference. Maybe it was just the steady thing for him as a teenager where others got anxious or gloomy or something.

He _had _experienced emotions. It was just that they had always been so much smaller. They had never left him so completely stunned and unable to react before. Nothing had done that to him before in his life. Yet with this boy they had come out sharp and shocked him like lightning bursting through his system in violent sparks. That was what had been so new and different. It was not the experience of actually feeling an emotion. It was just that before it had seemed as if he had been encompassed by a bubble that had protected him from the full effects of any emotion he had gone through. It had been something of an experience like crawling into the back of one's mind when reality became stressful. The emotions were there but halfway, bearable where they could potentially be overwhelming. But whereas crawling back into the mind was temporary, this was constant and never changed.

Now the boy had managed to somehow pop his bubble and he was being left with confusion. He had no real idea of whether having this knowledge was a good thing or a bad one. What was he supposed to do with him? _Was _there truly anything he _could _do? If the boy was what had brought it out in him like this, then did that mean he was supposed to be around him more often? Did it mean he was supposed to avoid him? Should he try to find him? Should he try to keep him away from him somehow? And if that was the case, how the hell was supposed to do _any _of that?

He didn't know a single thing about him and the way that he had simply _vanished _into thin air like that…that was not human.

What the hell was he?

If he wasn't human, then what could he be?

Yugi chewed his cheek and shook his head again to try to attempt calming himself some. But he had grown up with a grandpa who had always insisted that magic was real, that some people knew how to use it, that he had once done so himself. He had heard tales of kitsune and demons. He had heard of monsters and legends about a place called the Shadow Realm and punishments dealt through trials called Shadow Games. His grandpa had insisted all his life that the Millennium Puzzle he had sitting on his desk at the house was part of the Shadow Games and possessed terrible magic. He had been told that the inscriptions on the side of the box said that the one who could put it together gained the power and knowledge of the darkness itself.

What that meant, Yugi had no idea and he really did not think he would ever get a chance to figure out. He was not even sure he wanted to attempt it in the first place. There was no actual assurance that he wouldn't hurt himself if he did somehow figure out what that meant. And it was even worse knowing the stories that his grandpa had told him upon watching him struggle with the Puzzle for half of his life. Eight years had been spent attempting to put together a golden artifact that held his attention and refused to release it.

All the archaeologists on the dig to find the artifact had died but his grandpa and a family friend. Mysterious deaths. Some of them had sudden heart attacks, others aneurysms where they had been nothing before. Some of them had developed stage three lung cancer suddenly. Another's organs had all ruptured in the middle of the night all at once, right in front of his eighteen-year-old daughter.

Several of them had carved themselves open to remove their own organs.

Yugi was still amazed that his grandpa and Arthur Hawkins were still alive and well. Half the time Yugi expected to wake up and find the old man carving his face open with a knife or something. Every day he had grown more and more worried that something as morbid as the others' deaths would happen before his eyes. Especially when he had managed to finish the Puzzle three days ago. Right as his grandpa left for Egypt yet again.

He stepped forward and alarms went off in his head immediately, heart rocketing so suddenly that he jumped. Yugi jerked backwards but the arm caught him around the throat with enough force to slam him into the wall harshly. The small teen didn't have time to think of a way to counteract such a lightning fast maneuver. He flinched and tried to prepare himself for the strikes he knew were soon to come. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly as his textbooks collided with the book and the edges pressed into his back. The thin material of his backpack scraped against the stone loudly enough to make him cringe. The zippers shook and jangled loudly and his head rang as his heart lurched and leaped into his throat.

Fuck, what had he just walked into?

He waited a long minute with his eyes still completely shut, stiff as a board in preparation for the blow that would surely come. Every muscle in his body was prepared for impact. And yet nothing happened. Another minute passed. The arm remained braced against his throat and pressed against his skin but it was completely relaxed in its grip. And Yugi swore he could feel amusement tickling at his insides beautifully now.

"Oh, well, hello," he commented without bothering to open his eyes. His stiffened back relaxed into a soft slouch where it was possible in his position. He reached up to pull his arm away, relief coursing through him. When he finally opened his eyes, the other had his gaze narrowed into slits. His head was tilted slightly to the side, and his expression was slightly disappointed. "What? Were you expecting something else?"

"A little fear would have been nice," he snorted dismissively before looking him over slowly and smirking widely as he leaned a little closer to the other boy. His breath fanned out in the air just between their faces, threatening to touch his lips if he only moved closer. "You still seem pretty surprised to see me."

"Well, you did kind of disappear out of nowhere," Yugi murmured. He offered a small friendly smile and blinked at the slightly annoyed look that crossed his face. He had sought him out again and yet he looked so unhappy and frustrated with him. The smaller teen blinked at him, some small part of him hating the other boy's behavior. He had never been used to the idea of others not liking him—at least not so openly anyways. He knew that several kids in his class like Weevil Underwood and Rex Raptor and Seto Kaiba and Kokurano disliked him but even Kaiba had not made such a clear show of disgust before. He merely turned his nose up and refused to associate his time with him but past that he was simply ignoring him. The boy in front of him however had the very open expression of wanting to maim him.

His arm moved away, nails sliding against the wall until his hand rested around his throat and forced him back into it. His head collided with the brick in a strangely soft impact, not at all what he had been expecting. The other boy glared at him in annoyance, narrowing his eyes into slits. Yugi blinked against the uncomfortable sensation of his books pushed so violently into his spine and shoulders.

"You're a real annoying bastard," the other boy snarled softly. His voice dipped lower and scratched at his insides as his eyes glowed and burned into his skin. Yugi's nerves tingled and begged for something he had no idea how to name. "Stop thinking so goddamned much."

The smaller teen blinked again and then burst out laughing before reaching up to grab his wrist and pull his hand away. The hand around his neck was snatched away suddenly before he could even get within an inch of touching the cooled skin. Yugi almost thought it might have been because the other was afraid of being burned. He felt feverish and it had to show on his face.

"I don't think you get any kind of say in that," he snorted softly, still snickering as he raised a brow. The other boy's jaw clenched as he stared at him. "That seems like a lot to ask, don't you think?"

"I think you could probably do yourself a favor and shut the fuck up already."

"And I think you should do yourself a favor and maybe leave me alone."

The other teen gave him look that said he wanted nothing more in the world. Yugi felt something crumble inside of him for a split second while the other let out a disgusted huff of annoyance. "I can't."

"And here I thought it would be that easy."

"Your voice irks me. Shut up."

"Ooh, irksome," Yugi snorted, laughing at the murderous glare he was given and the way his jaw clenched so violently that he could see the muscles bunching beneath his skin. The movement made his adrenaline spike. His mind raced for a split second and excitement slammed through him. For a moment the world spun in front of him, dizzy with the emotion, and then straightened again. He had no idea where exactly he got this confidence to mess with the other teen, to push him like this, but it was there and he was using it. The other boy could probably squash him like a bug if he wanted, but something made him feel secure enough to attempt it as it was and he wasn't about to question or doubt it. His resolve would crack and break before he could even bring it to its fullest. "Now that's a word I haven't heard in a while."

"Then you have stupid people around you."

"Hmm…that's a matter of opinion more than it is fact."

The other boy scoffed and stepped forward once to press his palms against the brick on either side of the smaller teen's head. He was close enough that his face was only a couple of inches away from his. And Yugi was ashamed to admit the effect that had on him. "You're not afraid of me. I think that makes you pretty fucking stupid, boy."

"The name is Yugi," he quipped, stepping forward slightly, not the least bit surprised when he didn't move and their foreheads connected. The other teen narrowed his eyes into slits of red once more and Yugi fought off a shiver. His skin was nipped with cold air that seemed so much more enhanced by the chilled atmosphere around them, the way that this winter brought with it the promise of snow. He wasn't sure what he had really expected; maybe he thought the frost that came with the mingling of his breath would be black or something. He guessed a part of him had hoped it would be as dark and bottomless as those strange, distorted pupils he was staring into, but it was just as white as his. It was both oddly frustrating and satisfying to see. Maybe it was something small enough that he could make it out of this situation unscathed for he most part. He was pretty sure by the end of it, his psyche was going to suffer. How badly was a question, but he didn't focus on it. The fact remained that he doubted any physical harm would come his way with this interaction.

"I didn't ask for it. If I gave a single fuck I would have asked."

"Hmm, someone doesn't really have manners."

His palm pressed more firmly against his throat and his fingers folded, squeezing once. Yugi blinked and burst out laughing at the unique blend of pain and satisfaction that came with the action. It didn't hurt like he had thought it should have, the squeeze of his fingers around his neck almost pleasurable. It was barely even a tightening of his hand thought the sting of his fingernails in his skin was enough to send some kind of pleasurable ache through his system.

The other boy narrowed his eyes further and glared at him for a moment before finally shaking his head and releasing him. Yugi waited for him to step away again, spending a moment trying to figure out what was going on before realizing he wasn't going to. The other merely stood before him, staring at him with sharp burning irises. "Nor do I have morals, _Yugi_," he sneered, tilting his head fractionally. "So maybe it would be wise of you to think the situation through. And not so fucking loudly."

"Not my fault you've stuck your nose in business that doesn't concern you. Butt out of my head then if it bothers you so much," he snapped. A smirk crossed his lips as the teen pulled his lips back to show off his teeth again. His breath was sharp and rattled in the air between them viciously as he slowly shook his head. "No? Well why not? You have no business being there in the first place so why don't you just take yourself out of—"

The hand squeezed until his windpipe closed enough to make him claw at his hand, surprised by the audacity that the other fucker had when he sneered with a large smirk across his lips. Yugi breathed hard when he was released again immediately after, eyes wide as he stared at him in alarm and curiosity. He wasn't entirely sure but he had a feeling, a thought in the back of his mind, that he didn't think the other boy was actually trying to hurt him. He thought maybe the other boy was just trying to assert some kind of dominance and gain some ground in the situation. The soothing flickers of warmth that had passed through the front of his mind when he had begun squeezing his throat reinforced the idea. The thought was just soothing enough that Yugi found himself feeling slightly relieved. He doubted that the idea held too much merit, that it would hardly keep him alive if the other boy really wanted him dead, but he knew that he wouldn't hurt him. At least not physically—or maybe just not at the moment—though he certainly could. Something was holding him back and while he didn't have the slightest idea as to what it was, he was curious to seek it out.

He blinked again, breathing in a small soft gasp of an inhale that made the other boy snort and roll his beautiful red eyes of blood and liquid ruby. The irises almost seemed to shift and glow despite the little lighting that they had from the streetlamp several feet off on another corner diagonal of them. "Get over yourself, you little brat. I didn't even fucking squeeze that hard."

"You shouldn't have squeezed at all," Yugi pointed out, feeling a small lick of confusion on his insides. It dazed him for a moment before anger began to seep in, the smaller boy blinking before shaking his head. "You are _not _supposed to go around choking people."

"You were annoying me," the other scoffed nastily, rolling his eyes and glaring at him. "It was either that or break your neck."

Yugi narrowed his eyes, battling away the urge to shiver as he finally came to recognize the eerie calm that had settled in his gaze. Small licks of pure amusement flickered against his subconscious like embers fanning away from blazing flames. And he recognized them as they stared at each other. The taller boy smirked at the way his frustration grew and fell so constantly, but he was perfectly aware that the serenity that had lapped at his skin had not been his. He was brutally aware that the amusement was not his either, that the frustration he felt was spiking in his body like blood pressure on a monitor, and that the boy was getting a kick out of it. The amusement grew tenfold suddenly, warming his mind and enveloping him for a split second as it swept through him like some kind of strange draft where the air should have been cold. It was like the aura at the arcade and it cloaked the area around them. It lapped at the space between them like open flames and ate away at his body warmth to leave him shivering in confusion and growing alarm. "So you just go around breaking people's necks when they annoy you?"

"Depends. No one has ever been stupid enough to annoy me before."

"Yeah, okay," Yugi snorted, rolling his eyes and shaking his head with a small smirk. He had to admit he was a little surprised by the way that the other teen narrowed his eyes faintly but failed to pull his forehead away from his. Their skin brushed almost painfully with the friction he created with the simple movement. For a moment he went to argue and then found himself stopping short, staring at him blankly for a long minute.

"What? No more argument?" the red-eyed teen snarled softly, looking affronted by the idea, the sharp exotic-looking orbs growing slightly wide as if confused and alarmed. What had he expected exactly? For him to fall into some kind of full-blown war mode? "I'm a little disappointed. I expected more."

"Didn't you say that already about me in general?"

The other boy hesitated for a single moment, as if he had to think it over or find a new path to tread, eager to snap at him but considering the statement that lay on his tongue. "I said I expected more."

"But isn't that the same thing?" Yugi pressed, more than a little bewildered by the conflict that suddenly hit his insides like ice water. His gut churned, his stomach twisting as his heart skipped and stuttered, lungs constricting for a split second. A wave of dizzying anxiety rushed over him for a split second, threatening to knock him to his knees if the other boy hadn't been there. It calmed in an agonizingly slow minute, lingering in the edges of his mind but not coming forth again. Unconsciously he found his fingers working at some kind of fabric, something scratchy but soft at the same time. His mind took a minute to fully alert him to the fact that he was holding the other boy's shirt. And then he belatedly took in the fact that the other boy was wearing clothes. Yugi really wasn't sure what he had been expecting when he knew for a fact that his clothes had been the only reason he had noticed him. The sound of rustled clothing had been the only thing to alert him to the other boy's presence at the arcade. He had heard his pants or shorts or whatever when he had moved closer to him, when he had played his game. "Isn't expecting _more _of something the same as being disappointed in the original thing?"

He stayed quiet again, taking a long moment, judging and weighing, intelligence like the sharpest knife's blade lingering in his keen eyes, sharp chips of blood and cruelty. "I think expecting more of something gives it the potential to become more," he finally murmured, growling the statement out softly as if the other teen might not hear his words and grasp them if his tone wasn't dangerous. "But that doesn't change anything. You are all baby fat and soft curves."

"I'm sixteen. I'm not supposed to be all sharp lines and chiseled features and muscle and sweat," Yugi quipped, though he kind of wondered now as he stared into those deep red eyes. Joey and Kaiba and even Tristan were just as mature-looking as the boy in front of him. A sharp lash of annoyance cut through his insides and he searched the other boy's face when he couldn't find a reason to have felt that way. Those gleaming jewel-like eyes were flashing and darkening. His jaw clenched and his breath came out in a soft, low keen growl that made the smaller boy's spine tense in alarm. "I don't know what exactly you expected. I don't even know how you know me, but—"

"Think about that statement for a moment," he hissed, voice coming out and seeming to warp the air for a moment. It tightened in the space between, around the smaller teen, squeezing like a python getting ready for its next meal. "It's not a hard question. In fact, it's not even truly a question at all."

He gave him as best a confused look as he could manage around the swirl of frustration that spiked and lingered beneath his skin. It came off the other teen in vibrant bites and flames almost as if his teeth were sinking into his flesh and contaminating his blood. Yugi shook his head after a moment, completely unable to come up with a statement to argue with what the other teen had just said. He blinked once and watched him close his eyes for a second before a yelp escaped his lips as his skull collided harshly with the brick. Their teeth clicked harshly, sharp noises that echoed in the still air around them.

His mouth felt awkward in the new position, his body uncoordinated with the strange sensation of detachment that came through his mind in splintering waves of lightning and sparks of wildfire. It passed through him in ragged lines of sharp tension and vibrant need for something that he had no understanding of. Hands struggled with the straps that weighed down his shoulders, forcing them down and away in a movement that caused pain to shoot through his bones. The other teen let out a snarl almost as if he too felt it and was frustrated with the ache lingering beneath his skin. He pulled away just enough so that he could face the strap that was bothering him the most. Nails scraped through Yugi's jacket and undershirt and clawed his skin in four long lines. He winced, swearing somewhere in the back of his mind that he could feel blood seeping out of his split skin, but the other teen ignored him pointedly. His harsh breath beat against his lips, a snarl tracing the tail end of the exhale and the smaller teen watched him as he fumbled once and then tore the strap away. He listened to the light sound of material ripping where the bag ground against the wall but didn't bother to try telling him to stop. Instead he moved to slip his shoulder out from under the second strap to drop the bag behind him.

A hiss escaped his mouth without his awareness at the sharp sting of pain that came when his shoulder blades collided with the wall. He stumbled when his shoe caught on the smooth material and he nearly slipped. His entire body staggered and nearly fell down the wall, but a hand caught the collar of his shirt, tight and restraining, holding him in place and refusing to let go. Yugi wasn't sure why he didn't push him away or fight him off. Frustration poured into his system though he could hardly understand whether it was his or the other boy's. He would not have been surprised if it was shared between them at this point. Maybe it was stronger on the boy's behalf but it was there inside of him as well. It burned and festered and left him somewhat dazed but, by the gods, he loved it so much as well…

_Open your legs_…

Yugi fought off a confused panic creeping up from his belly with claws like vices. The command rattled in the back of his head and his stomach twisted violently until he thought he would vomit. A keen desire raced through his mind and lit his blood on fire at the same time and the small teen finally forced his legs apart. The other teen made no move and Yugi stared at him, confused. He breathed in sharply when the hand that held the material of his shirt released him and moved away to grab his chin and tip his head up somewhat, the other sneaking downwards. What the hell was he doing?

The metal teeth slid beneath the zipper as it glided over, slowly starting to part, and the smaller teen froze for a second. Slowly, unsteadily, he forced a noise that he hoped, heart pounding and shaking in his chest, was something equivalent the growl that the other had shot at him earlier. His answer was the teen pulling away immediately just enough to lock eyes with him. The red eyes burned into his with a challenging authority that made him want to snarl in frustration. He was not the boss of him.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?"

The word tasted funny in his mouth because Yugi had never truly been one for curse words. Most of the time he abhorred them though he heard them almost every day at school and it felt disgusting to have it come off his own tongue.

"Would you relax some, moron?" he snapped around the chomping of his teeth. The enamel clicked sharply enough that Yugi had to struggle to push away the instinctive flinch that threatened to take over. "If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done so already."

"I'll scream," the smaller spat, bristling as the hand moved to cup him and the other palm opened to lay flat over his neck, to push him back some and pin him more securely. Yugi couldn't figure out why he wasn't using his arms yet to shove him away. He still had no idea how to even attempt pushing him away or trying to kick him…

"You really think you'll get your voice out before I crush your throat in?" he laughed, a purr biting at the edges of his words before a snort escaped him, wholly amused. "I'm a lot stronger than you. I am faster than you. You open that pretty little mouth of yours and raise that high pitched voice of yours, and you are dead. Understand?"

Yugi ground his teeth together. Did he test it or let him do as he wished? Did he fight back and run? Did he wait it out, see what he was going to do? He was far from sure about the idea of trying his hand at fighting this other boy. He was more or less sure that he would lose. He had height and he thought maybe weight too, but he looked skinnier than he should have. Yugi thought vaguely of malnourishment, and wondered if that could be the single advantage he had. But there was also the fact that he could probably hear him if he really could listen in on his thoughts as he had said. And he knew for a fact, without even having to think about it, that he was far faster, something that Yugi wasn't the least bit afraid to admit.

His jaw was starting to ache, straining with the force of his teeth gnashed together. Risk his life on the idea that he might be able to get away with a scream or just let the boy do as he wanted? He didn't think it was much of a question if he was trying to survive and needed to do that more than anything else. But that wasn't the instinct at the forefront of his fractured mind.

No, his instinct was to lash out and test, to drive at the other boy until he finally snapped. His instinct screamed for some kind of release between them, dangerous and desperate and overwhelmingly powerful. Maybe it was sexual, maybe it was a fight, maybe a spat, but either way, it was demanding and consumed every bit of rational thought he possessed. His instinct said to claw and draw blood and make the other boy fight with him. It said to make him feel something that was far from normal and wasn't so completely easy to push away without a second thought.

"You really think you're going to kill me?" he asked after a moment, searching his face, his eyes. He shivered uncomfortably when he found only bitter resentment and a hatred that he didn't understand. He didn't know who it was targeted towards, him or himself, but it was there and it made his eyes dark and wild. It felt like staring into boiling springs of deep red lava, pools of freshly spilled blood. It made him dangerous, like a snake coiled and ready to strike. It made the cold aura that surrounded him that much heavier, thicker. It bore down on him until he felt his lungs were no longer working and he couldn't breathe. The cold mist that lingered in the back of his mind solidified as it had the moment he had begun to approach him at the arcade. Yugi felt his heart kick into high gear, racing fast enough that he thought it was in his throat, beating hard enough to choke him. Fear crept through him at the thought of his sight becoming inverted again, long lines of white like jagged forks of electricity and distorted shades too dark for his liking. The edges of his vision swirled with tints of black and dark blue, lingering gray and misty white…

For a moment the other teen considered his words, the thoughts seemingly turning behind his gleaming eyes, and then he came at him aggressively. Yugi let out a startled yelp that the other devoured easily. A hand wrapped around him and pumped once in a languid movement that made the smaller boy think that maybe he was measuring him rather than attempting to bring him any form of pleasure. His head spun with distinct uncertainty when his tongue was thrust forcefully into his mouth, the dangerous lingering taste of moonlight bleeding through dense clouds to touch the ground on a cold night, winter and darkness and stars and sky and an endless abyss of risk and fire and exhilaration. His head swam, his heart lurching and jumping into his throat once more. The taste of blood seeped into his mouth around the flavor of the other boy's tongue. His lungs twisted and burned, and then something inside of him snapped.

Violently.

It felt like a dam had broken to pieces inside of his mind. The barrier that had prevented him from reaching the other boy vanished in a splintering pain with a noise akin to glass breaking and glistening, hitting the ground and cutting his skin. He swore his heart took a shard through it, got clipped. It bled into the space between them as desperation and fear and shattered reality, splinters of horror and pain and darkness swept through him. First his mind and then his being and then it burned. Something sizzled beneath his skin and ate at his conscious, seared through his being and left him wanting to scream.

A strangled noise left one of them, though Yugi was unsure which of them had made it, if it was him or the other boy. But he hardly cared now as his mind started to splinter off into different directions. It hurt but it was so solely satisfying all at once, the way his mind twisted and writhed with the familiarity of something that he had never experienced before. It felt like something was tearing him open and shoving his distorted insides out. It clawed and ripped and shredded and yet it didn't hurt. It was pleasurable to the core where he could feel himself bleeding into the other boy…

Vaguely he recognized the action of his hips moving, thrusting maybe. He knew that the grip around him had tightened, that he was being forced further against the wall, to the point that his spine was arched and curved. His mind scrambled for knowledge of what to do other than breathe roughly, raggedly, moaning and panting into the other boy's greedy mouth. Fucking hell…

The other boy chuckled softly, the noise making his tongue vibrate and sending another wave of euphoria through him before he pulled away suddenly. His face pressed into his shoulder, tantalizingly warm where his cheek softly brushed his neck. Yugi impulsively reached out to grasp at his shoulders with fingers that dug into his flesh, trying desperately to reach the bone. He moaned loudly and swallowed back something akin a strangled scream, a noise he didn't know how to release or make.

_Intense, isn't it_? the other boy's voice snarled in his mind, burning words with edges like jagged knives and broken glass, reminiscence of the experience that had come over him only moments before. _And you thought I would hurt you_…

His fingers tightened impossibly, curving and digging harder, sinking into muscle and sinew. His nails dragged at broken flesh and made the other boy growl into his ear, a dull low noise around the pounding of his heart and the seemingly synchronized beat that came with the other's.

The boy pulled away after a long moment and Yugi whined loudly enough that it made them both cringe. His mind scrambled, unsure of what to do, disconnected and trying to find some kind of way to mend the break as the bother boy stared at him with dilated, confused, detached eyes that were too wide and large. His own gaze caught the red, held it in place, took in the way that pupils had contracted to pinpricks. They grew into tiny little black dots among a sea of blood and exotic gems, chips of crimson ice and danger. Yugi blinked and he mimicked him after a long second before lunging again. For once in his life, the smaller teen couldn't tell where he—his desires, his emotions, his mind, everything that made him _himself_—ended and the other boy began. It was as if they held a disjointed connection that had formed between them and grown too strong in too short a time. The boy felt like an extension of his own body, joined in different places, awkward places, in clumsy yet powerful ways, hungry and desperate and only partially restrained by something that neither could name. He moaned loudly, desperation and frustration surging through him as he bucked his hips, seeking any kind of friction he could possibly find. His mind felt strained, dazed. The hand that had been holding him moved to slip his pants and boxers down before shoving him slightly. A vague idea crossed his mind that the other wanted him to become a part of the wall, a permanent attachment of flesh and blood and brick.

He thrust harder and the boy snarled into his mouth, laughter gradually bubbling up beneath it as he pulled away and purred, "Eager much, little game?" before moving his lips to Yugi's face, his cheek, trailing down the side of his jaw. The smaller teen gasped and writhed, whining and trying to find something to work with where the boy seemed ready to stop. He stretched his hands out and wrapped an arm around his neck, clawing at his back as his body went through a tremor and a whimper of desperation escaped him.

His teeth scraped and tore at his jaw and the smaller teen yelped in violent pain. The contact and the force behind it, the way his canines pressed so far into his skin, left his head reeling. He pulled back just enough to smirk as Yugi breathed hard and stared at him with a shocked expression. The look in his eyes, the smug pride and satisfaction, a gleam of cruelty and feral instinct, made him question if maybe the intent behind that bite had been to crush his jawbone.

The thought made his heart pound but he wasn't sure if it was with excitement or terror and his mind supplied him nothing to identify the difference between the two. The adrenaline pumped through him, furthering the disconnection dangerously. His head swam, his stomach twisted, and Yugi struggled to find some kind of ground to stand on.

He breathed hard, realizing belatedly that something was missing. He stared at the other teen and then dragged his eyes away to the ground. He took a moment to realize belatedly why he no longer felt those heated coils in his stomach anymore, the bunched up muscle that had come with his hand.

"_Shit_."

"Still want to scream? I can make it happen."

Yugi blinked and looked at him for a moment. The remnants of pleasure and adrenaline were fading slowly as he breathed hard and struggled to get a grasp on what was going on. The red-eyed teen had just given him an orgasm…in an alleyway…with his hand…

A small backwards train of thought said that he should be embarrassed but he could only feel a wild amusement overcoming the rest of his emotions. He turned his head and looked at the other boy with a smug expression before moving to pull his pants up again. The other teen's eyes flickered to his clothes and back so quickly that Yugi almost missed it in his peripheral. He watched the red gaze narrow into slits as he took in his current state. The smaller teen didn't know what he had expected, but now that he looked at the other, he recognized in that pissed off expression that he had not gotten it. And some small part of him rejoiced at the thought. He didn't want to give him something that he wanted. At least not before he found some kind of ground between them to work with.

The boy worked with distraction, manipulation. He had pushed at his mind until it bled and left him completely unable to argue. But he had also cut himself in the chaos of it all. His blood had mixed with his and it was clear that the boy had not wanted that. Not completely anyways. He had probably wanted more control over Yugi's thoughts, wanted to be freer to toss through them and abuse and manipulate them, but he'd opened up something he had no idea how to control.

And now, the emotions inside of him lashed out like one massive caged animal because he had no idea what to do. He had tried to weaken him to the point that he could creep into his mind and shuffle through without being caught and he'd managed to trap himself in it. He didn't have a way of escape now.

Yugi smirked at the irritation that crossed through his system with the idea. The other boy was growing angry, bitter, and looked ready to attack him, but he had not moved. It was only his tensed muscles and the way that his breathing had grown ragged and bordered on a snarl that gave him warning and told his curiosity of caution.

"Disappointed again? I mean, it has to be hard running into so much lately," he teased, his mind trying to find something to grasp at to reign in some of his confusion and slow-coming alarm. He was not sure exactly what he was doing but he would have been lying if he said he didn't like the power that had been placed so precariously in his hands. It was addictive and strange and so beautifully foreign, and it was only made more pronounced with the gleam of hatred in the other boy's eyes. He could have come up with the idea as to why he was so terribly elated. It could have been the many times he had not gotten much of a challenge during games with opponents and smothered the idea of bragging. It could have been just another aspect of his personality he was growing into. But he was almost one hundred percent sure it was the boy's frustration that made him feel such an intense high at the thought of holding power like this.

"You blame everything on me, hmm?" he hissed, narrowing his eyes into slits and tilting his head, gaze flashing dangerously. Yugi blinked and fought off a shudder; he had never seen something so reflective before in his life. Theway his eyes suddenly seemed so much like glass made his breath hitch. He swore in the back of his mind that he could see his own emotions reflected towards him. There was confusion and a hint of lust, tiny specks of surprise and guilt but mostly just smug awareness. There was the humor in his gaze that didn't really hold merit in the heat of such a situation. His face stared back at him, in the center of those dark red orbs. Irises burned around contracted pupils and blazed into his. Yugi's spine begged to release some of the stored tension there in the form of a tremor. "You're not nearly as nice a person as you think you are. If you were, how would I be here?"

Yugi stared at him for a moment and then shook his head slowly, furrowing his brows at the comment. "What?" he finally breathed out, confusion and annoyance finding its way into his voice. "I have nothing to do with you being here."

"You brought me here," he spat, curling his lips back and baring his teeth as he moved their faces within inches of each other. "You did this. The blood on my hands is shared equally on yours. You think you're a good person? No, you're just as disgusting as the rest. Greed and ambitious and just as jaded as I am."

"What the hell does that mean? I don't even know you." He blinked at the statement. A small flux of confusion and then vibrant pain surged through him. His chest felt suddenly as if it were caving in. He went to snap at him not to influence him, but then he locked eyes with the other boy. The light in those stunning red eyes was of pure laughter and Yugi found himself drowning with the realization that it was all him. These emotions were all his and the other boy had not influenced them in any way. "What are you laughing at?"

"You. How naïve and slow and pathetic you are."

"Cute. So you're lashing out because you didn't get your way. And you think you're above me? Right. Think again."

"Oh no, don't mistake yourself, _Yugi_. I am well aware that I am not above you. But I am not beneath you either. Hell, I am not even level with you yet." His lips pulled up into a wide smirk, moving to show off his sharp canines and dangerous teeth, the same mouth that had threatened to crush his jawbone only moments before. "Ah, yes, see, now you're getting it."

"Fine, if you want to do something, then do it. Hurt me. Lash out. Punch and kick and tear into me until I bleed," Yugi stated calmly, stepping forward and finding himself nearly drowning with sudden pleasure as he breathed in the other boy's exhale. "_Make me bleed_."

The other boy blinked slowly and narrowed his eyes further. His gaze grew to a mere sliver of red among black lashes and dark shadows and pupils that seemed to absorb the vast darkness cast upon them. Yugi watched them grow large and full once more, completely distorted like stars in the sky. The smaller teen stared at him, waiting, but the other failed to move. He still stood close enough that they were sharing mingled breaths. He could feel him studying him, taking notes as if he was attempting to find some kind of answer. It was like maybe he assumed biding his time would give him what he sought from this encounter, this argument.

"Are you scared?" the smaller boy asked quietly, moving to cross his arms. He froze in place when the other teen bared his teeth as if he expected him to lash out. Something kept him from doing so himself but he expected Yugi to. The smaller teen's head spun for a moment, dizzy and tilting on its axis. He struggled to find the answers to so many questions that were suddenly buzzing in his head. The hatred that had settled in his veins, that was tearing at his insides and making him so angry, was not his. It belonged completely to the boy, and yet he did not seem even slightly inclined towards attacking him.

He remained completely frozen before him. Yugi had a small split second of fear that he was not even breathing anymore. The hatred curled and spread and warmed his blood to the point that he thought it was boiling in his veins. It took center in his mind and darkened his thoughts enough to make him want to scream. But he held himself as still as the other boy, studying like the red gaze did with him. He tried to find something that could possibly make the other boy's actions logical to him. The boy searched for something he had no idea the identity of. All he was doing was spreading that emotion through him now, however. He was attempting to manipulate and bite and leave him suddenly furious.

"What the hell is holding you back?" he finally snarled, clenching his jaw. "Go ahead and attack me. I won't fight back. I'm not going to hurt you. Do it. Do _something_. Carve your way through my skin if you want to. Just do something besides stand there and stare at me."

The hatred sparked and sizzled and then gave way to surprise for a single split second before it settled into the pit of his stomach, the back of his mind, coiling tightly like a snake preparing to strike. He remained still, watching the way that the other boy stared at him in response and refused to speak, and both of them glared at each other.

"What do you want with me? I don't have anything you could possibly need. And it's not like I am _inclined _to give you anything anyways. You fucking licked my face and pretty much sexually assaulted me."

"Did you argue? Did you breathe a word of argument? No."

Yugi opened his mouth to snap at him that he had but then backpedaled immediately. This fight would get him nowhere, no matter the amount of power he put into it in retaliation. The boy seemed prepared to deal with anything he threw at him. He seemed to enjoy the aspect of argument over conversation. And the smaller teen was starting to recognize something in those cruel bloodied eyes.

He liked the arguments because that _was _conversation for him. He liked the manipulation because it felt _real _for him. He had fun digging into his emotions because they became _his _to play with. He enjoyed his anger because it justified his hatred. And he was not lashing out because to him Yugi was not a threat.

Now that was something that he knew to worry about. It was questionable whether it would be a good thing or not that he failed to see him as a threat. He had no idea if it was a blessing or a curse. If he was to push too far, it would be all too easy for the other boy to tear his throat out. He had the strength. He had the speed. It was no question of if he would do it if he truly wanted. The boy in front of him would not hesitate at all. If he wasn't thought a threat to the other boy, there was hardly anything he could do to keep the boy from doing something to him.

Yet, still here, even in this moment, he was not doing anything.

He had the perfect opportunity. He had already said he wouldn't fight him. And this boy was not stupid. He knew that Yugi meant the statement. He would not touch him if he lashed out physically. He would trade blows with him verbally, mentally, but not physically. He couldn't stand the idea of bruising the other teen's beautiful skin or drawing his blood.

So why did he hesitate?

Yugi ground his teeth together and his frustration spiked and caused him to tremble for a split second. The red eyes took in the motion with pure amusement but the smaller boy couldn't shake the anger that came with that simple idea. And how was he supposed to fight someone who lived for this kind of thing? If he told him off, he would get a laugh. If he threatened him, he was pretty sure he would get something he didn't want in response. He had no way of knowing how to navigate and this entire situation was one massive time bomb waiting for him to make the wrong move.

"Not a threat?" the other boy laughed cynically before baring his teeth. He stepped close enough that they were nearly touching again, only centimeters of open cold air between them now. "You? You're _not _a threat? Are you serious, you stupid boy? You are the _only _threat. You have something of mine that I want back. I want it back, _Yugi_."

"What of yours do I have?" he asked slowly. He fought back some of the anger that clouded his senses, forcing it away in order to be able to stare at him, searching his bleeding eyes. He focused on the task of trying to manipulate himself into confusion, a false sense of calm. "What do I need to give back to make you leave me alone?"

"Leave you alone? Oh no, even if I get it back, there is no 'leaving you alone'. I am stuck with you. You brought me here and now I am stuck with you."

"What the hell do you even _mean_?" he snapped, shaking his head with a scowl. He furrowed his brows and set his jaw in frustration before blinking hard. He tried to scatter some of the jumbled emotion that was burning in the pit of his stomach. "I didn't bring you here. I don't even know you!"

That twist of confusion and pain spiked through him once more with enough force to shake off any of the other emotions that may have been in the center of his mind. He reached up to feel himself, run his fingers over his clothes. He brushed the digits over his clothing, his skin, staring at the other boy whose face had twisted into a murderous glower. It felt as if someone had just broken and cracked inside of him. It lingered and bled on his damaged insides, and it hurt like an open, festering wound full of infection and leaving him completely lost as to what was going on.

"Of course you do," he sneered, though his voice sounded slightly hollow and lacked some of the menace it should have held. Yugi's eyes flickered towards him, away from his clothes, regarding him in confusion even as he tried to find some kind of wound on his skin. "You know me."

"I don't," he repeated, heart skipping and constricting painfully, nearly breaking like shards of glass. His knees threatened to buckle with the force of the pain that radiated inside of him in that single moment; he didn't know this boy. This creature, whatever he was. He didn't, he didn't, he didn't. He would have recognized him immediately if he had. And yet the more he tried to think this or speak the words, say that he had no idea who this boy was, the more his heart felt as if it were being incinerated from the inside. The more he bled and his insides screamed as if he were being stabbed. "I…Who _are _you?"

The other teen's face grew to slowly harbor a look of eventual shock. His eyes widened in confusion and chaotic splinters of black bled into red in large sharp rivulets of darkness. He suddenly looked completely unsure of himself, as if he didn't know how to answer the question and didn't have a single thing that he could force out of his throat. He looked as if he were experiencing the same pain as Yugi felt, as if his insides were being slowly dissected and bleeding beneath the surface of his skin. The smaller teen recognized the wild and feral look that crossed his face the next second. He recognized the way that his eyes glowed around those strange bleeding pupils. His disappearance at the arcade flashed through his mind for a moment. The look he wore now was the very one that had come across him right before he had disappeared as if he had not existed in the first place.

Yugi opened his mouth to stop him, heart pounding violently and jumping against his ribcage painfully. His mind raced with the task of saying something—anything—that could make him stay. He was scared, suddenly, that if he ran away again, he would never be able to find him, that this would be the last time he ever saw him. It was a fear that settled so deeply inside of him that he nearly buckled under the weight of it. The intensity fractured his mind and left his insides screaming, everything inside of him drowning beneath it. But the teen was gone before he could even fathom the task of forcing words out of his mouth. He swore he saw shadows creeping along the ground, the walls, eating what little light the bricks had to give from where they harbored rays from the streetlight. But mostly he thought he saw a single small pinprick of bright gold in the center of the boy's forehead before he vanished.

_Goddamn it_.

* * *

**Tell me how I did with characterization and the new style?**


	2. Chapter II

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Warning: Cursing should be relatively mild but sometimes grows a little more at times, Season 0 Yami...and he's a little more unhinged than usual, so keep that in mind**.

**Note: There are mentions of blood, some graphic images of death, sensual moments and feelings, touches of violence/abuse**

**Update Schedule: I'm going to try for bi-weekly updates**

**Writing Note: I'm trying a new, more descriptive style for a story I plan to write later so tell me how I did with it? **

**Anyways, the story is a way to help get rid of some writer's block I'm dealing with so it's serving as a style-trial and a way to get back into writing.**

**I got a little geeky with color symbolism but you'll find out why later in the story. There's actually a pretty big reason for Yami to pick at the colors and why he's so keen on taking in every little aspect of Yugi's room. **

* * *

Chapter II

Yugi screamed. He screamed loudly enough to make a dog down the street start howling and a cat scatter from where it had been rummaging through the trashcans outside the game shop. The boy straddling him pressed his palms over his ears as his lips pulled back to show off his sharp teeth and those strange red gums. Yugi stared at them, imagining blood spilling violently as he continued screaming. He swore he hit a point where the glass cracked and shook in its frame and the taller boy pressed his hands over his mouth firmly. His head was throbbing, his ears ringing, and he yelped as he was shoved roughly back against the mattress with enough force to nearly wind him, his voice cut off for a split second.

"Shut up, shut up! Shut _up_!" he snarled angrily, a small sense of panic curling beneath the notes of his dark baritone voice, sharp and cold. A feral threat of anxiety crept through the air and made Yugi's ears throb painfully. His voice dug its way into his thoughts and scattered them away with a sense of fear that was overwhelming to even consider facing. His adrenaline spiked higher, his heart skipping as he breathed hard. His panic merged and mingled with the other boy's like drifts of cold air and steam. The sharpness took on something akin a piece of broken glass as it bore its way into his skin, a sting coming through his subconscious as it became impossible to ignore. His gut felt as if it were being torn open and his scream grew a pitch higher in terror and pain at the sensation. He trembled and the other boy gave him an affronted yet terrified look. His voice dropped, taking on the chill of winter and dripping sharply as he spat, "I haven't even _done anything_. Shut the fuck up already!"

Yugi squeezed his eyes shut tightly, unable to stop screaming against his palms and wondering how it was that his lungs had not exploded yet. The back of his mind supplied him with the idea of adrenaline coursing through him so violently. Or perhaps it was the other boy's panic that fed the need to continue with the noise. His lungs slipped into a soft ache like a miserable headache's beginning. His thoughts were being broken apart and dissected, and a sheet of ice was forming in the forefront of his mind. Any concept that tried to form was destroyed immediately.

"Fucking—_shut up_!"

The statement made his panic build and urged him to lash out violently. His head throbbed painfully and he could feel himself drowning beneath the sheet of ice just as he lost control for a split second. He smacked the other teen hard enough to throw him backwards, his voice jumping out in a weak squeak of fear. His throat burned and his head felt fuzzy and cold as he scrambled backwards towards his pillow. The cushion bunched up against the headboard and he breathed raggedly as he gawked at him, shocked and horrified by his own reaction. The boy wiped blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, smearing the red over the edges of his lips and looking his skin over for a moment. Yugi opened and closed his mouth, unsure of what to do, and the other teen brought his head up just enough to give him a murderous look.

"Oh my gods, oh my fuck—how the hell—who the fuck climbs into someone's house by dropping through a goddamned skylight and leaping on their bed, you stupid bastard?" he snarled angrily, breathing hard until some of his overpowering fear began to slowly dissipate. The effort to refrain from lashing out in terror once more was draining more of his energy than anything he had ever experienced before. Yugi had to admit he was itching to smack him once more, however, because, _really, who in their right mind did that kind of thing_? But he forced the idea away in favor of trying to catch his breath as he shook his head and went about crawling over to him. The red-eyed teen looked at him now as if he held a torch and pitchfork, recoiling as if he thought he was going to brand him with fire at any moment.

"Relax," he muttered softly as he got close enough to reach out and catch his arm before he could get to his feet. "I just need to check on your face, okay?"

"My _face _is fine," he snarled, trying to push him off without pulling his other hand from his face. Yugi had to dodge away from his palm, instinctively knowing the other boy could have easily crushed his skull with the force of the prepared blow. "Now let me go."

"No, just let me see."

"How about you fuck off and let me deal with it instead?"

"You frustrating prick," Yugi spat, rolling his eyes in frustration as he tried to assess the damage with too little moonlight and the other boy keeping his face covered. He reached over to tug on the cord of his lamp but kept a hand on the other's arm to make sure that he didn't manage to disappear again. He honestly didn't know where the boy would go, but after he had vanished twice in the same day, he didn't think he could take any chances. "Move your hands so I can see."

"Fuck you, I'm not letting you near it!"

Yugi fought back a shiver at the way the light hit the other boy's eyes, the way that they seemed to absorb where they should have reflected. The gleam that should have been there was nonexistent, his irises and dark pupils unaffected by the rays of light. Yugi could see red on his fingers, between the slender digits, rivulets of blood making up long streaks that worked their way down into the pores of his golden-bronze skin.

"It was an accident," he argued softly, slightly overwhelmed by the sight of so much blood on the other boy, caused by his own hand. He had expected maybe bruised flesh but he had obviously hit so much harder than he had originally thought. "But what did you expect to happen? By the gods, you leaped onto my bed from the skylight, waking me from a _very _bad nightmare by the way—thank you for that much at least but you could have _planned _it better!—and you were covering my mouth and telling me to shut up. Of course I freaked."

He stayed silent, his attention far from on the smaller boy as he stared at the wall without a single glance towards him. A sharp noise as if he was breathing too hard or trying to get rid of blood in his nose made Yugi cringe though a small bit of confusion trickled through him. He had been so sure he had hit him across the mouth. But maybe he had clipped him in both places? He wasn't really one hundred percent on this entire situation. He was hardly even sure that he was completely awake at this point. This could have been some kind of surreal lucid dream experience of all he knew. He would not have even been surprised if it was at this rate.

He had already haunted his nightmares, butchering his family and friends and trying to dig his way into his soul and control him from the inside…

Yugi forced the vivid drifting images of his nightmare off, for a moment frozen on the sight of the boy's jaw covered in blood and his teeth glinting in some surreal light. He swallowed and drew his focus onto the boy, the effort nearly exhausting. He frowned and moved closer until neither of them had more than mere inches of personal space. The air between them mingled with the cold rush of the boy's aura and his own body heat. His adrenaline spiked for a split second and he blinked. A dizzying sensation crept through him for a split second and then settled slowly once more. He could feel his temperature rising again, reaching a peak at exposure to the red-eyed boy. He sat back on his haunches and reached for his wrists with the hope of pulling his hands away to view the damage but all he received was a violent snarl in response. A small trill went through him as he froze in place, unable to tell if it was because of just how close he was or if it was the path his hands were taking. But if it was the former, wouldn't he have snarled at him so angrily when he had first moved into his little bubble of space?

Yugi thought that it must have been his wrists he was snarling about. He moved his hands to grab his elbows, surprised by the way the skin quivered beneath his fingers, cold but heating rapidly at the contact. The other boy glared at him furiously, a menacing glint crossing his dark eyes, but did not oppose him. The smaller teen shot him a small grin and bit back some laughter at the scowl that he imagined twisting his face. For a moment they stared at one another and Yugi felt a small bit of confusion at the lack of fear inside of him. He tugged but the other did not so much as blink, his body completely resistant to the movement.

"Oh my god. Did you super glue your fingers to your face or something?" he huffed softly, frustrated and narrowing his eyes. The idea brought about a small twinge of amusement and satisfaction as he pictured it perfectly in his head. He wondered vaguely if his skin would come off since super glue was such a bitch to get off in the first place. If he had somehow managed to do so, Yugi thought he would sob from laughing so hard. It was probably impossible when it came down to it, because he doubted the other boy could even _get _super glue in the first place, but it was still pretty funny to think about. "Come on, move your hands."

"Fuck you. Let go of me."

Yugi rolled his eyes and shook his head. He reached out to lay his palms over the back of the other boy's hands, a small bit of surprise surging through him when he found just how much larger his seemed. But he didn't comment on the leaner build, the long fingers that opposed his own shorter, somewhat chubbier looking ones. He moved his fingers to lace them between the other boy's, sinking his blunt nails into his palms. A snarl of pure anger tore through the air between them as he tugged. The other boy refused to give way for a long minute, glaring and scoffing behind his hands rather than helping him. The smaller teen dug his nails in further, struggling, and the other spat, "Fine, fine, you want to see?" and shoved him away violently enough that he nearly toppled over if he hadn't still had his fingers tied with the other boy's. Yugi flinched at the sight of the bruised flesh of his nose and the blood that made its way to his split lip, both wounds nearly covering his chin with crimson.

"Oh…"

"'Oh…'" he sneered, making his voice higher to the point that it matched the smaller boy's perfectly. Yugi froze in place, alarm dripping down his spine and making him tense before he finally shook his head and blinked a few times. The taller teen suddenly jerked backwards and Yugi almost fell out of the bed. His eyes flashed, widening drastically for a moment before a low snarl ripped out of his throat. He struggled to pull his hands away, shaking out his wrists and chomping his teeth around the low guttural noise that escaped his mouth.

He studied him, confused and blankly trying to figure out why it was he was reacting this way. It was as if something was touching him and pulling at him, trying to hold him down. Yugi couldn't tell if he was going to bolt at any second or not, but he pulled his hands away immediately after the thought occurred to him that he was still holding them.

The other teen lashed out suddenly enough that the smaller teen had no chance of escape. And for a moment a thought crossed his mind that he was going to run those long nails along his throat. He pictured blood, copious amounts of red that soaked the sheets and coated the carpet. In the split second it took for to feel the other boy's hand, he swore he saw his life flashing in front of his eyes. Panic as intense as flames flickered through him and he fell backwards into the bed with a soft grunt. His body felt like lead and he swore he could feel blood. He swore his skin had been serrated, and his panic grew tenfold.

For the briefest of moments he felt as though every vein in his body was beginning to pop and explode beneath his skin. Every bone had pinpricks of pain and felt as if they were twisting. His blood boiled and his mind scrambled for anything to help steady him. His lungs refused to work for a moment, feeling as if someone had just thrown him underwater. He could feel the sheets growing soaked with his blood, becoming soiled and weighing the mattress beneath him.

It was slow and dragging out inside of him, his mind seemingly flailing, incoherent and babbling something that sounded like his blood bubbling with his breath. He swore he could feel the tendons in his throat, flexing and drowning. His heart skipped and jolted, struggling, and his bones felt as if they were breaking again.

And then he heard a snicker, so soft it was nearly inaudible. He wasn't entirely sure how he recognized the noise in the disconnected state he was slipping into. But it drifted through his ears and left him biting off a groan.

The bed was merely warm. It was not the least bit wet. And he could not feel any pain anywhere. His mind slowed from its race and fell into a slow jog. It tried to recount the situation but failed miserably for a moment.

And finally it hit him.

The boy had not hurt him.

In fact, he had barely touched him.

He had pushed him away by his forehead like he had seen in countless comedies.

The skin on his forehead had been hot and clammy from his own tossing and turning all night, the way that he had woken up in such a state of shocked panic. But now it felt colder where it had been formerly feverish, as if the boy before him had absorbed some of the heat with the tiny moment of contact that had occurred between them.

He took a moment, breathing in deeply before pulling himself up into a seated position again, finding that the other boy had a small smirk on his face. But his eyes were hooded and the pupils had contracted somewhat now due to the light of the lamp that he was facing. There was no gleam cast upon the deep red orbs but the shadows from his lashes gave the illusion of his pupils having narrowed and flipped onto their sides, becoming slits like a snake's. Yugi had to admit the effect made the other teen that much more alluring, but the idea was troubling and his lips fell into a frown before he could thinking about it, looking the other boy over and chewing his cheek.

"Here, stay right there. I'm going to go downstairs and get a couple of paper towels," he muttered, frown deepening slightly at the quizzical expression on the other boy's face. He blinked, staring as the other tilted his head in question, eyes somewhat wide, mouth moved into the tiniest of a pursed position as if he were fighting the urge to make the "o" shape with his lips. "And then we can clean that blood off and check to see if there's anywhere else I hit you."

He looked ready to object, eyes growing somewhat wide, but the smaller teen ignored him pointedly, wandering towards the door and spinning around to snap, "And if you pull that disappearing act while I'm downstairs, the next time we see each other, I'll clock you."

"Bullshit," the red-eyed teen commented, snorting and then wiping at his nose. Yugi stared at his hand to see if he could find more blood from the wound but the taller boy didn't give him much of a chance to spot it. "I cannot picture you clocking someone."

"But I just did it a second ago."

"You swatted me with the heel of your palm. That is the only reason you managed to draw blood in the first place."

"Well…I'm going to pretend that I punched you. It would make me feel much more accomplished if I punched you instead of having had a sissy reaction and slapped you," he snorted, turning and walking off down into the hallway. The other teen listened to his heart pumping, straining his ears for the soft footfalls that accompanied his steps, and then turned to survey the area.

The entire room was small, almost like a bright tiny smooth-walled cage. The corners were so close together that the second glance he took seemed to bring the walls towards him for a moment. The beautiful sky blue shade of color that made up the walls was perfectly spotless, immaculate wherever there were not those few possessions that were pinned to the walls. He took in various posters of Duel Monsters, a few scarce pictures of family and friends, but it did nothing to make the space seem more open. The bright color and the way that it was kept so clean sent his head into a spiral, his stomach lurching at the sudden idea of the walls closing in on him. All he had to do was turn his head and a wall would slink that much closer. The warmth of the air, so foreign and constant, seemed only to add to the sensation, making his mind toss endlessly with a pressure that shouldn't have existed. The walls swam in his vision, swirling and dancing in his mind, as the instinct to lash out started to rear its head. He dragged his eyes along towards the window, his escape point, and the open space and cold air helped to clear his head slightly. He eagerly took in the few stray beams of moonlight that filtered through the glass and breathed in deeply, lungs straining with the effort to draw in as much as he needed. The locking mechanism on the window made him tilt his head, curious as he focused in on it. The instinct to flee from the prison of blue made him take a step closer, but the reminder of why he had come smothered it quickly. A fleeting thought passed through the back of his mind, reminding him that he could easily escape without effort if he truly needed it, window be damned. But he was well aware the use of magic took large amounts of mental power to be able to control it without backlash so if he had to flee, it would be the window he would put to use. The way the room seemed to mess with his mind and flip his perception left little option. He breathed hard to draw out some of the sting in his chest where his ribs felt like they were cracking beneath an invisible pressure and turned away again. A pale shadow rested on the carpet only inches from his feet, a focal point that consumed his mind for a long minute. It was almost chaotic, half-beaten into nonexistence by the bright yellow light the lamp provided from the other side of the bed. The carpet was far too clean as he looked it over, trying to find a new route of investigation to search for what he had come for. It was strangely colored, a deep purple-blue indigo hue that was oddly relaxing in the way it seemed to slow his thoughts. But his skin crawled as he spotted some fibers that caught the light and seemed to glisten with an eerily otherworldly effect.

He had a small fleeting moment of recognition. Vibrant sparks of color and loud crackles of energy, flashes of lightning that made his ears roar, swarmed his mind and left his jaw clenching tightly. His teeth ached with the force of it and his jaw locked in place as he looked towards the bottom of the wall opposing the window. He surveyed for anything that could possibly be considered out of place to prove a stream of normalcy for him, finding nothing and feeling his stomach twist violently once more. He closed his eyes briefly to keep the feeling at bay, trying to focus where his mind was threatening to spin again. His lungs grew tight and restrictive again, his chest feeling broken and his body suddenly feverish and itchy. The room was too warm, the air was too stuffy, the room was too fucking _perfect, immaculate_, _well-kept_. Lights were starting to form behind his eyes, spinning and dancing violently, and his mind was spinning, his insides going through another spasm. The heat was starting to feel like tiny bugs creeping across his skin, his body hyperaware of the tension, of their touch. He pictured a tight, bright blackness like the gloss of a raven's feather, seeping into his skin and wrapping around his organs. Momentarily panic slipped into him, breaking like a dam, and madness flickered in his mind, illuminated by sky blue walls and blood that oozed from the ceiling.

The angles were swaying and dipping, toppling slowly inward to smother him. His eyes snapped open, focusing in on the window where cold air leaked in slowly and seemed to bathe his skin. The square of glass was slanted inwards, but his subconscious whispered it was just built that way, that the entire _wall _was built in a slope. The stars blinked and swam but steadied after a few moments as he tried to regain focus. He had things to do and this was the only place to do it. The red-eyed teen waited until his lungs no longer felt restricted and the walls were spread out as they should have been, no longer painting his peripheral with sky blue.

The irony of the situation wasn't lost on him in the least. He was well aware of the shade of color, how it was meant to connect with his mentality. Sky blue had always been one of those shades that normally made him feel somewhat safe only three days ago. It was one of the first things he had seen and it had often been the only thing that had kept him calm. Now it was the only thing that actually held a threat to him. Yugi was not around at the moment. The bastards he had dealt with before were not there. Instead the only threat he had was the walls, the way the color made them so much smaller and gave the slant of the one before him such power over his lilting mind.

His eyes shot to the bottom corner of the dark gray side of the small teen's desk and took in the somewhat reflective metal surface but found nothing worth noting. A small lamp sat on the top left corner directly beneath the glass and he vaguely took note of the little uncomfortable-looking chair that sat in the space between its legs. He took in the way that it was neatly pushed in as if he continued the habitual departure of his classrooms at home. So Yugi was a habitual little creature; he might be able to use that to his advantage later. The surface was perfectly kept with such attention put into the task that it seemed almost as if the boy was deathly afraid of even the tiniest of germs. The entire metal top was reflective enough that he could see his face in it, something that he avoided pointedly as he looked it over, drawing in the tiniest details to distract himself. Yugi could possibly be a narcissist or his parents could be perfectionists because the boy himself was not one, something he was certain of just by looking at him. He was too easygoing and laidback, slouched and wore the same clothes too often to be a perfectionist. So it had to be the parents because narcissism didn't seem like it was something that existed in Yugi's genes.

It took him a long moment to push away his musings enough to finally recognize that the lamp was actually _attached _to the metal lining of the desk. He glanced over his shoulder towards the dark hallway and back, wondering as he traced a finger over the smooth metal. It was one with the entire unit, a folding metal rod with a flat rectangular design, the glass sharp and almost cruel to his eyes as he looked it over. A little alarm clock rested nearby, taking on the appearance of something akin a figurine, light blue with a pair of plastic eyes glued to the front and two straight lines drawn over the top of them to give it a determined expression. He blinked and slowly cocked his head to the side; the alarm clock countered the lamp's addition to his little musings. It said that he hated studying and used the alarm clock to give him a focal point during distractions where as the lamp said he had no trouble focusing on his tasks. The contradiction made for an interesting little fault in his room's design that made him feel slightly more welcome as he took in the two red bells. A moment of inspection gave him the realization that they probably collided together when the timer went off. The way they curved upwards only helped to define the determination that had been assigned it, something that he supposed Yugi lacked when it came to studies. He smirked, guessing that the expression looked more victorious when it went off, giving the small boy a reason to celebrate his educational win.

A small series of books were lined across the top right corner, varying in sizes but all seeming to belong to the category of study materials. Something flickered in the corner of his eye and he turned his head, expecting it to be a particle of dust or a shadow that had passed from a night predator flying overhead, and then froze in place. A mirror sat before him, in the corner of the desk, small and easily adjusted to take in different angles for observation. His temper flared, hatred surging through his veins, eyes locked on the sturdy-looking design of the metal frame. He wasn't close enough or particularly in the light for the mirror to actually catch his reflection, but it was enough to make him bristle and bare his teeth.

He reached out to flip it over and recoiled immediately, his eyes shooting towards the semi-reflective surface of the desk to look at the drawers next to it, yet another distraction. The outside of it seemed almost as if it was made of metal or at least a strong dark gray plastic that seemed made with the sole purpose of replicating to match the desk. The red-eyed teen narrowed his gaze faintly and stared for a moment. The gray color supported some of Yugi's little theories about himself from before—he was neutral, with disinterest being his default state. He only felt things halfway, which was definitely reflected in the gray desk and drawers he was staring at. He looked over the transparent plastic bins and narrowed his eyes at the small grips for one to slide their hand beneath and pull outwards. Easy access didn't mean much as far as trying to pick apart the smaller teen; it was just human laziness.

The entire set of drawers took up most of the corner and his red eyes flickered as they took in the design before finding the small strip of carpet that trailed its way towards the white case of bins. He tilted his head, taking in more study materials, the surface topped with a few books almost like he had done with the desk, most of them thicker or smaller in build. Most of the drawers had labels and he stooped to read them but the symbols were as foreign as the very concept of the boy whose room this belonged to. The elegantly written words did nothing to help straighten them from the jumbled mess they formed in his tiring mind. Characters and letters brought far too many meanings, dragging and grating at his consciousness with barbs of unfamiliarity but keen knowledge, things that he should not know but was provided regardless.

Either Yugi was naturally a very clean person or it was forced on him by his parents. With gray and white so near each other, he supposed it was the former. But still he couldn't help but think that the alarm clock distinctly countered that idea. If he was so keen on studies, why would he need to decorate his alarm clock like that? If it was an attempt to express himself, it was too small to be openly noticed and the point would have been missed altogether. But the walls were rather bare too…

He glanced at one of them, took in a poster and a few scattered pictures, and turned away again, narrowing his eyes. A small burst of energy hummed in his veins as frustration pulsed through him. He shouldn't have risked that glance because now he was reminded of how small the space he was in actually was. The distance between furniture had been dragged out mentally because of his musings but now he was losing his grip again. And to add to it, there was no more furniture he could see on this side of the room.

He forced his mind into a familiar dormancy, disconnecting for a moment so he could turn around and take in the wall opposite of him. His eyes locked on the single door that stood there, shuffling his consciousness slowly into awareness once more. The wall struck at the forefront of his mind, the color openly taunting him, but his eyes stayed on the door. He guessed it led to a closet or bathroom and wondered vaguely what color it was painted. He looked the door over and then turned his head to the entryway that Yugi had wandered out of, tilting his head. The lights were still off and he could hardly see anything, but the tranquility of the darkness and the fact that his muscles were not bunched beneath his skin in preparation for attack said that the smaller teen was not returning just yet.

His eyes slowly shifted over to the massive pantry-like cabinet system right next to the door on the right, standing taller than him and distinctly higher than Yugi. He imagined that Yugi had to crane his neck and use the bed or stand on his tiptoes to do much with it. Or maybe he straightened his back when he went through his closet system. If he did, then he stood at about the same height as him. He wasn't stupid and he was well aware that Yugi wasn't as small as he looked, just that his posture and the way he tended to lower his head made him look so. He thought if the smaller boy straightened, he would be his height or possibly an inch beneath. He certainly wasn't taller unless he stood on his tiptoes and straightened his back completely, raised his chin in challenge. The idea made him smirk as he looked over the doors, tilting his head and taking in the design of the knobs. He supposed he would have to pull them outwards so that they bent and slid in their compartment. The knobs were tiny and almost invisible against the deep blue shade of metal. He glanced towards the door again, listening and even tipping his head to hear the other boy moving around in the kitchen, and then slowly moved towards it. He couldn't feel anything as he neared it, however, but he guessed maybe he wouldn't, considering the circumstances. His fingers grasped the knobs to the point that his hands nearly hurt, pulling and listening to the hinges creak with his exerted force. He listened to it smooth out into a gentle grinding noise that was barely noticeable and immediately set about looking upon each shelf. Clothes…and the Puzzle's box.

Red eyes widened and zeroed in on the ancient artifact, taking in the deep velvet-lined insides and the Egyptian carvings on the side. The way the lid was displaced allowed one to peek inside to see whatever lay inside but he knew without thought that he would find nothing. He looked over the various assortments of clothing and then forced himself to go about closing the doors again before his curiosity got the best of him. He still had a meaning behind his little visit here, after all, and his curiosity would only screw him over.

He nearly snarled at the creak that greeted the action, the grinding that came with the movements, and then found himself falling into a strange sense of beautiful euphoria as they finally clicked together gently. He drew his eyes to the other tiny nightstand, almost missing it. It was a mere sliver of a thing, where the lit lamp rested, and he was not at all surprised to find that it was metal as well. It was shaded differently, however, and that struck his interest for a moment. He knew the meaning behind that color, ingrained in his mind, yet another thing that shouldn't have been out of his grasp but lay in his mind regardless. Self-denial and self-discipline. He snickered and shook his head, taking in the way that it was pressed so completely into the wall that there was no gap between the drywall and the bed. The piece of furniture looked swallowed with some of the loose blankets that Yugi had scattered moments before. The color was intriguing but not enough to keep his head from feeling as if it were being prodded with fire as he stared at it. It was too deeply pressed and almost eloquently hidden, barely providing a barrier between the two. But then he noticed it. It was _there_.

It lay there, right next to the bed, nearly touching the soft fabric of his deep yellowish-gold sheets. A low purr bubbled out of his throat as he took it in. The Puzzle, lying on its side with the Eye facing him and a thick chain of deep beautiful silver resting though the hook that made up the top of the upside down pyramid pendant. He narrowed his eyes in delight as a blast of adrenaline shot through him. He cast a small glance out the door and listened once more, searching for noise to tell him of the smaller boy's presence, and then started towards the bed again. He got to the center of the mattress, fingertips of his right hand mere inches away when a pulse of energy slammed into him violently. He withdrew his hand, hissing softly and feeling unease creep through him as he felt vicious sparks flare in his subconscious, warning him to heed caution. He stepped back off the bed, moving back several paces and glancing over his shoulder again towards the door. There was nothing to say that the boy was coming back just yet. Nor that he had felt any of the things that he had. But that didn't stop the angry pulse of energy from flaring in his mind again, a beacon of power that nearly knocked him to his knees in pain. He didn't question it and he was not about to mess with the magic that came with it.

Something moved in the corner of his vision once more and he froze in place, fear and disbelief clawing their way up from the pit of his stomach. Frustration scraped through him and slashed the other two into pieces, lighting his entire body in violent anger; by the gods…

He didn't think about it when he knocked the mirror to the floor, stomping on it until the frame broke and cracked violently. His blood boiled as the metal creaked and the base shook violently under his shoe. The glass cracking and grating against itself in the metal frame made his fractured, bleeding heart calm from where it had been racing and trembling with rage inside of his chest. His lungs constricted violently, making him clench his jaw tightly. His organs went through another spasm, his mind racing. His heart started to rattle in his chest and his lungs trembled and squeezed shut, collapsing altogether for a moment. His insides were beginning to feel hollow and broken but his blood made his skin feel feverish. He pulled away from the mirror just as he heard the footfalls that announced Yugi's return to his room.

"And now I know that I should never leave you alone with reflective stuff," the small teen commented wryly, rolling his eyes and gesturing him over.

The other teen stared at him for a long moment, confused even as his eyes narrowed and a defensive bristle overtook his stance, the need to lash out suddenly overcoming everything else. He peered at him through his lashes, vision shaded by the black shadows that crossed its path, watching the other boy who wasn't even looking at him or the mirror on the floor. He wasn't angry? Why the fuck wasn't he angry?

"What?" Yugi asked, turning his head to search his face. He could feel the anger and something like hurt creeping through his system, light touches against his own subconscious. The sensation confused him more than anything but it didn't stop him from playing with the washcloth he had soaked in the bowl of warm water resting on the bed. "Come on. I just want to clean the blood off of your face."

He stared at him for a moment longer, eyes as sharp as blood-covered shards of shattered glass. He took a reluctant step forward, glancing at the Puzzle quickly and waiting. But he could not feel its energy, dark and angry, against him anymore. Regardless, he was not going to take a chance with it. Distance was the key.

"Hey."

He blinked and shot him a slightly disturbed look, watching him as he took a seat on the edge of the mattress and placed the bowl in his lap. He took in the way one of his hands rested against the front, encircling it, and the other's fingers dipped in the water, grasping the cloth. His body language matched his eyes, open and friendly despite the position and the circumstances that had brought them together. But that did nothing to help him because he still couldn't figure out what the point of his statement was. "Why are you greeting me? You have already seen me," he muttered, tilting his head like a curious dog before narrowing his eyes again into slits and mumbling under his breath. "Fucking moron."

Yugi burst out laughing and shook his head, staring at him through his lashes. The other boy curled his lips back at the amusement that made his gaze so soft, watching him as he cracked up to the point that he nearly dropped the bowl and rag. "No, I was trying to get your attention," he snickered, smiling at him softly around another round of laughter threatening to spill out.

"You already _had _my attention. Why else would I have been looking at you?"

The smaller teen stared at him for a moment and then covered his mouth to hide the round of laughter that spilled out. He shook his head again, watching him and admiring the hilarity of his unapologetic attitude. He honestly looked like he would want nothing more than to shove his head into the bowl and hold it there until he stopped struggling. He was just so easily offended, on such high alert, and he didn't even have the fleeting _thought _of apology.

"Just come over here," he chortled, trying to stop laughing and clearing his throat after a moment to get rid of the last of it. The other teen merely glared at him from beneath the shadows of his long lashes, small burning embers of bright red flashing like crushed rubies in direct sunlight. "Please? I'm not going to hurt you or anything. Just come over here and let me fix your face."

"_Fix_?" he snarled, eyes flashing and burning into his gaze, bright enough that for a moment he had the abstract thought that maybe if he reached out he would feel the heat of fire from those blazing irises. "My face is not broken. But I will gladly break yours. And then we will see who needs to be _fixed_."

Yugi squeezed his eyes shut at his own phrasing, realizing his mistake as he now thought automatically of a dog being neutered. His amusement surged into the other teen who hit him back with ferocity that made his laughter die immediately, eyes snapping open in shock. The other teen's stance had not changed in the slightest, standing with his back straight and rigid, eyes burning into his skin as he remained about a foot away. It took him a moment to notice that his dangerous irises seemed half-destroyed by the distortion his pupils brought.

"Okay, okay, look, I phrased that wrong," he stated, attempting to coax him forward with a gentle waving gesture of his hand. The other boy merely stared at him coldly and Yugi worked to keep his body language as open and friendly as he could. "I want to clean the blood off. Can I do that?"

"Give me the bowl. I will do it myself."

"But I'm the one who hurt you. I want to do it."

"Why the fuck should I care what you want?" he spat coldly, seeming to bristle like a startled wolf, baring his teeth for a moment as his eyes flashed dangerously as if glowing. He snarled softly, those bright red gums seeming oddly distorted in the light, and then his eyes widened for a split second. "I have no reason to care for your desires."

Yugi shook his head slightly. "No, I guess you don't," he agreed calmly, shrugging as he took in his expression and the feral light that came across his darkened eyes. "But you did just break my mirror and I don't exactly plan to just tell you where you missed a spot and stay up all night because you ignore me and refuse to wipe blood off where I point it out. I have school tomorrow."

"You mean today," the other teen sniped before he seemed to catch his tone again, eyes widening once more for a split second. He seemed to be finding himself no longer in need of the defensive precautions he had been taking before. Yugi smiled a little in amusement at the way his body language changed. His back released some tension but not enough to make him slouch or lose the touch of intimidation. His eyes narrowed faintly, his mouth relaxed from where it had been drawn in a long tight line. He watched the taller boy blink and study him closely, searching for something that the smaller boy guessed was a lie or a backhanded plan to get him over there to drive a knife through his chest. "You come here. I don't want to go over there."

His smile faltered, falling into a deep frown as he looked around for something that could have upset the other boy. He couldn't find anything for a long minute and a half, eyes searching every direction. He looked along the walls towards the Duel Monsters posters with the Spell-caster monsters, and then finally glanced momentarily towards the Puzzle lying on his nightstand. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, stomach twisting as the realization struck him that something was completely off about it. It appeared the same, still the brilliant gleaming form of hollow gold, bright and polished and beautiful to the eye, but there was…definitely something. He got up, shaking his head to banish the thought, and cast a glance at the clock lying on the desk near the other boy. He glanced at the vacant spot on the piece of furniture and then finally looked towards the mirror and his visitor. He took a seat on the bed again and made a movement for him to get closer, the red-eyed figure hesitating for a single movement before moving towards him. He wasn't sure if the way that he moved, the silent grace and predatory allure that it possessed, was a show of confidence for him or Yugi at this point. Something had definitely happened in the time that it had taken him to get the washcloth out of the dryer downstairs, and whatever it was, it had shaken the other boy drastically.

"Okay, lean forward for me."

He stared, red eyes unblinking, and the smaller boy offered him another tiny smile, the curve of his lips just gentle enough that the rest of the tension in his spine slipped somewhat. Yugi fought off a squirm as the other boy braced his hands against his thighs. His palms rested uncomfortably close to his crotch, bunching the material of his light blue pajamas. The other boy moved his face a little closer to his, stopping at a distance that was just close enough that he could reach up and wipe the dried blood away.

Yugi thought that maybe the position was an attempt at a show of power. That if he made the wrong move the boy would be able to trap him without effort. He had no doubt the red-eyed boy could pin him down and kill him if he needed to. It might have been a power play but he wasn't about to ask. He was not sure he wanted the answer. But with the way his thoughts were currently flickering to dark alleyways that they had formerly traveled, he thought it might have been the boy's influence that made his mind twist this way.

He didn't commonly have thoughts as dark as this, as dangerous and vivid. He normally wouldn't have thought that someone was going to kill him. His mind had never automatically jumped to that assumption before, not when he was scared or stressed or even when he had been drinking coffee for a week straight and started hallucinating. No, these were dangerous and so life-like that he couldn't truly tell them from reality and that scared him more than anything else he had come across.

His thoughts flitted to the idea of when the boy had pushed him back onto the mattress. He could almost taste and feel the blood again. A moment of panic settled into his ribs and dissipated immediately again. He guessed he could add this to another long line of firsts he was getting with this boy.

It had to be the boy in front of him that had twisted and warped his mind so much. It was beautiful in a disgusting way, like some far corner of his mind had finally had light shined upon it, but it didn't help to numb some of the fear.

He reached up and angled the other boy's head down fractionally, a little surprised when he was met without resistance. The smaller boy tipped his jaw up and ran the washcloth lightly over his mouth, working on the cut he had given him. The other boy's lips parted just enough to get the inside of the split lip and Yugi pursed his own with a shake of his head. Confusion bubbled up in the pit of his stomach as he chewed his cheek. He didn't remember hitting him so hard, or even really touching him that much in the first place. He had thought the boy had pulled away with a reflex too fast for his hand to collide with his face. And yet, here he was, sporting a bruised nose, two fresh cuts colored a deep red where his mouth was pale, rivulets of crimson from his nose downwards…

He lightly dabbed at first, only applying more pressure when the other didn't flinch. He wrinkled his nose at the touch of fibers against his skin but still did not fight him. Yugi glanced into his eyes for a moment, quickly noticing the fact that the other had not so much as batted a lash the entire time. And the cut just _looked _like it had to hurt pretty badly, no matter how softly he moved the washcloth over his skin.

And his nose…

"Guess it's a good thing your lips aren't still swollen," he commented, grinning softly and trying to find some kind of abstract bright side the situation. The other teen gave him a cold look that he barely suppressed a grimace at. "And hopefully you've learned that you shouldn't break into someone's room through their skylight and then jump on their bed in the middle of the night. That was just rude."

The noise that escaped him was a half-interested grunt that held no actual bearing on anything. It wasn't even a noise of acknowledgment, just a response that seemed automatic as if he had just wanted Yugi to think he was paying attention.

"Seriously, don't fucking do that again," he snapped coldly, narrowing his eyes into slits to glare at him. He wished he was one of those people who got impulsively angry and tightened his grip on his jaw or something. But he wasn't, so he settled for glaring into disinterested eyes. "Do you not understand how scary something like that is? I woke up to you straddling me like you were about to choke me in my sleep."

"Oh, would you like an apology?" he sneered. "Because I won't give you one."

Yugi sighed and rolled his eyes, losing the will to fight with him now. "You really are a prick," he commented softly, hoping for a bite to the statement but finding nothing other than a slight monotonous ring of defeat underlining his tone. He glanced at the clock for a moment and sighed, his breath ghosting over the red-eyed boy's face. The taller boy blinked wide eyes at the sensation, looking surprised and suddenly almost eager for it to happen again. "Well, there goes any chance of going to school today."

"You have an hour to sleep," he argued, glancing at the clock as well and frowning before turning back to him. He honestly had no idea how his mind translated the numbers to tell him the teen's schedule, but he wasn't about to ask either. The idea disturbed him slightly but it was nothing that he would dwell on. He waited for Yugi to speak, watching him, and his heart leaped into his throat as he jumped a mile at the sound of the alarm going off loudly. He jerked backwards violently and Yugi burst out laughing as his head snapped towards the small figurine. The red-eyed teen's mouth opened and closed once as he tried to steady his breathing and regain some kind of calm. The shrill chime made his ears ring until he thought they were bleeding but when he turned his head, the smaller boy only laughed harder at his distraught expression, holding a hand up before getting to his feet. Red eyes watched him go over to turn off the alarm with a button on the back of the clock. The soft click came out full force, not at all blunted by the noise of the bells clanging together, and he relaxed some as Yugi shook his head slowly and laughed gently.

"What? Have you never heard an alarm go off before?"

The other teen stared at him with that same dangerous expression that had crossed his face when he had used the word "fix" when he referred to his face. Frustration and bitter disgust shown like a beacon in wide red eyes that still showed his shock and distress at the noise. Yugi watched his back straighten and his jaw clench, offensive rather than flighty and ready to flee as he had been moments before. He studied the darkened blood of his eyes, frowning as he took in the way that he was now glaring viciously.

"Sorry. I was going to say that it's actually broken. I can't get it to set on the right time and it's an hour early. It's still seven in the morning," he murmured softly, a small growling noise coming from his stomach and making his eyes lower towards the floor for a second. His gaze drifted and locked on a couple of broken shards on the floor, staring at the image that greeted him there.

Long black wisps of something like smoke, moving and bunching together, shifting and traveling, coiling around in the air, never changing in their form but still constantly moving…

He dragged his eyes slowly towards the other boy, finding that he was still more focused on the clock than him, and then quickly turned away again.

* * *

How did one begin a conversation like this?

How did you tell your best friend that someone had broken into your house through your skylight?

How did you tell your best friend that that person had managed to bring you to a place where no one could see you but you could see everyone around you?

How did you go about saying that this someone had given you thoughts of death that you couldn't explain?

How did you casually mention that you thought you were going insane because he had managed to twist your mind so well that you had actually thought you were dying? That he had drawn you into such a hallucination that you truly thought that you could feel your blood leaving your body?

How did you tell your best friend that that same someone had broken your mirror on the desk and their reflection was that of…well…_shadows_? Twisting, writhing, screaming shadows?

How did you tell your best friend that?

And, more importantly, was it even actually a good idea to do so?

Yugi wasn't sure. He was sitting there with Joey at his side, listening to some idle chatter about how hot Mai was. He had learned in the course of five minutes that the blonde had the _softest _hair ever and that she was going to the states for a vacation and that she would be in Vegas. He had heard the word _Vegas _emphasized over twenty times now and it was kind of frustrating him. He listened to him talk about their date after he had left them alone yesterday. He listened to an almost exact play-by-play of how he had gotten her to agree to the date in which they had gone to dinner and a movie and then swung back by his place. He talked about how she seemed to love Serenity and even offered to do her hair sometime.

Yugi stared at the projector for a long minute, blindly taking in the problem Ms. Chono was working out on the board for them, but he nodded at his friend to keep him going so he could think. Because, maybe, just maybe, if he talked through all the way to the end of class, he could just forget about what was going on and ignore his problem altogether. He hadn't been able to do so before, his mind always circling straight back to the other boy and leaving his thoughts shaken and shattered like glass. But he had tried and he couldn't help but feel envious of those who could just put something out of their mind effortlessly or lose themselves in a conversation. Because he had never been one of those people. He always tended to have the thought or problem burn in the back of his mind like a bright flame. It would lap at his thoughts and beg for attention, always there despite the conversation he partook in. It would scream and beg and it would be so much easier if he could actually _relax _for once in his life. He thought he would truly be beyond happy if he could just get the scattered broken image of the red-eyed boy out of his head…

"Shit, I'm sorry, man. You had something you wanted to talk about?"

The smaller teen turned his head and stared at him in confusion. For a moment he had nothing to say, his mind completely blank as the image there shattered and fled. And then he debated for a long minute and a half as their eyes locked. He searched his face for some kind of hint of what to do and found nothing.

Did he tell him? Did he actually open his mouth and bother with spilling that little secret about the other boy?

Did he truly put to words the anxiety that the other boy's entire _existence _brought him?

Did he even have the _right _to tell him about all of this?

And if he did, _how _exactly did he begin?

There was something inside of him that recoiled and twisted violently at the very idea of sharing. It screamed a persistent roar of "no" and said to keep him his little secret. It said that he would be able to figure it out on his own, that he had no _need _for an outside opinion on the matter.

That the boy would not hurt him.

Would not kill him…

Would not harm the others…

Did he follow that instinct or did he try to force the words out to speak to Joey? But if he actually told Joey, he would tell the others and Yugi didn't know if he could handle them all worrying about him like this. Especially Tea. If he worried her, he would feel sick with guilt…

"Nah, never mind. It's fine. I just figured it out on my own."

"You sure man? I mean, I'm free to talk if you want to."

"Yeah, I'm sure." _I think I can handle it. I don't think he'll hurt me. Something has to be holding him back from it… _"Thanks Joey."

The blond nodded, looking completely unconvinced, but Yugi didn't care enough to bother with saying anything more about the matter.

* * *

****I think I got most of the paraphrasing but some of it could possibly have slipped past me so t**ell me how I did this time around?  
**


	3. Chapter III

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Warning: Cursing should be relatively mild but sometimes grows a little more at times, Season 0 Yami...and he's a little more unhinged than usual, so keep that in mind**.

**Note: There are mentions of blood, some graphic images of death, sensual moments and feelings, touches of violence/abuse**

**Update Schedule: I'm going to try for bi-weekly updates**

**Writing Note: I'm trying a new, more descriptive style for a story I plan to write later so tell me how I did with it? **

**Anyways, the story is a way to help get rid of some writer's block I'm dealing with so it's serving as a style-trial and a way to get back into writing.**

* * *

Chapter III

Yugi stirred slightly, his ears ringing violently with the noise that had startled him into complete awareness, but it was growing far too quiet now. The shrill sound was very slowly dissipating but it was gone instantly when he tried to focus on it. A soft touch of something like a quiet exhale or the contact of the tips of long fingers against glass peaked his interest further. Slowly he cracked his eyes open into slits, peering through his lashes, his mind too tired to truly absorb most of what was going on. He didn't want to make any sudden movements, however—whether for himself or the other, he had no idea—and he swore his tongue bled when he bit it in order to fight back a loud yelp.

Despite the slope of the skylight, the pair of shoes resting on the glass was perfectly balanced and looked completely resistant towards the very idea of a slip. He continued watching him with a curiosity that grew instinctively keen, tense as it bit violently at his insides. He knew without thought that it was the other teen but it did not stop the sense of wonder and shock that came with the sight. He listened to the glass slide fluidly, the way that it creaked softly and then moved freely, a soft humming noise as it slipped open and let the other teen fall through.

The thud that came with his shoes hitting the metal of the desk was as soft as the landing of a slim feline, nearly inaudible and leaving him blinking as his spine went stiff. Beneath the blankets he waited for the other to say something, alarmed by how truly gentle and almost nonexistent a noise it was. It was as if the other boy weighed nothing and when Yugi really tried to think it over, he kind of figured that shadows probably held nothing as far as weight was concerned. A shadow was, after all, supposed to just be the absence of light…or something along those lines anyways.

But then, when was the last time someone had heard of shadows bleeding and glaring and writhing and screaming? When was the last time someone said they had seen them clump together to make a body? A body that bled red and felt emotion as deep as the ocean with a tongue as sharp as a blade? Since when had a clump of shadows been able to have a physical presence and an aura so powerful that it was enough to make a room aware of its place among them? That gave the word predator a significantly new meaning and put the most dangerous of creatures to shame just by _existing_?

Yugi pushed away a shiver but it didn't take a genius to know that the other was well aware that he was not sleeping. His heart leaped slightly as he leaned up and slid the window to a close and the smaller continued to pretend sleep was actually an option. He couldn't read his expression but he could see his eyes, the way they glowed softly in the darkness. But he was well aware that he knew the other boy was not nearly as gullible as he was trying to make him seem. He stood on the desk for a moment, stepping silently around on the top of the metal as if trying to make it clear that he only allowed him to hear him when he wanted. And then the boy dropped down, a mere disturbance of rustled clothing and soft weight against the plush blue-purple carpet. The air dropped from its normal temperature in a blast of cold air that sent his senses on high alert and the hairs on his arms beneath the blanket into a static rise. He moved his fingers slightly from where they rested in a pose to pull the pillow down further to snuggle into. His skin pricked and a moment like ants crawling over his flesh made him freeze in place for a split second.

He noticed the boy was not looking at him but he also saw the clear smirk that lingered on his lips. His upturned cheek was caught by some scarce moonlight among the clouds, the sharp line of his jaw interrupted by the arrogant curve. In the darkness, the stray beams hit only the very corner of his shadowed eyes, but Yugi swore it lit the entirety of the iris visible to him. The smaller boy knew it hardly even touched the white that was offered but he saw it glowing in small lines of brightened red against dark shadows.

What exactly was he doing? Why wasn't he talking? Was there a reason for him to be there? Had he sought him out for something? Did he need something? Or was he just toying with him? Did he want him to take the initiative towards conversation?

Yugi was getting so tired of having questions and no answers. He was drowning dangerously in the silence that suddenly seemed to constantly follow him, to thicken and burn against his skin despite the chill of ice the boy brought with him. He hated it so much, how it always seemed to crystallize and cover him like a boulder, too heavy for him to do anything but become crushed beneath it.

He closed his eyes, trying to steady himself and force the words out of his mouth as he took a deep breath. "You know I'm awake so I don't see why you aren't talking," he mumbled, voice coming out so soft he had to strain his ears.

He listened to him move and shift his weight as if he were preparing to take another step. But the footfall never met the smaller boy's ears and he knew that he was still in that exact spot only a couple of steps away from the desk. He waited, wondering vaguely what was holding the other boy in place like this, and then finally opened his eyes after a long minute of suffocating silence.

He had half expected him to be gone but he found him still standing there, his chin tipped upwards and his red eyes searching the wall. He was staring at one of the posters with an expression that the smaller teen could not read in the darkness. He strained his eyes, peering at him through his lashes, and found nothing. He had his body half-turned towards the wall, his head tipped up, his eyes narrowed, and Yugi could see that his right heel was raised slightly. He shook his head and reached behind him blindly for a moment, worried the other might disappear suddenly if he did not keep him in his sight, and finally managed to pull the cord to bathe the room in yellow light. For a moment, the other boy kept his chin up and his entire body focused in on this one sheet of paper, and then finally his red eyes shot to his face and burned as they locked with his. "I was expecting you to be asleep by now," he murmured with a blink that Yugi nearly missed. His red eyes flashed against the light and his pupils looked hollow and gray for a split second before they adjusted, contracting and taking on the form of something akin a black starburst effect. Little tendrils of black leaked and blended with red at the edges and Yugi nearly shivered as he watched it keenly, unable to look away for even a second.

"What were you planning to do? Spend the night wandering my room and watching me sleep?" he scoffed, voice coming out weak and then strengthening into something of an undertone of a soft sneer. He searched his face and narrowed his eyes, surprise bubbling up when he saw the cynical expression the other wore at the retort. "Yeah, that's not going to happen."

"That sounds utterly repulsive to even consider. Who the hell would do _that_?"

He shrugged and pulled his blanket up as he snuggled back into the mattress and went to grab the pillow to shift further down once more. Self-consciousness lapped at his insides, begging for him to hide from the scrutinizing gaze that was directed towards him. He had no idea if it was the boy standing in front of him or if it was himself but he had no plans to listen regardless. He wasn't about to hide from him. "Some people find it attractive, apparently," he snorted sarcastically, shrugging and trying to force away the edge of embarrassment in his system. "I don't know. I really don't care. The point is that I still want to know what you're doing here."

"Well, considering that I knew you were awake, I figured I would speak to you."

"About what?"

He stayed quiet and for a second Yugi couldn't figure out what was going on, if he had vanished or not. The idea of his random departure made his skin crawl with sudden anxiety and he opened his eyes to find him merely staring up at the poster once more. His head was tilted to the side, his legs drawn a little closer together though not crossed, his right heel still raised. The only difference besides his slight change of posture was the fact that his eyes were not narrowed into slits of burning red.

"It's a nice poster, huh?" he tried, confused about what he was supposed to attempt a conversation with, earning him a soft chuckle that only puzzled him that much more. It sounded cynical and somewhat bored, dry as the desert, as if the other boy wasn't actually there to talk in the first place. "Where have you been anyways? I haven't seen you for a couple of days."

The statement gained him momentary attention. His head turned to stare at him with caution shining against his eyes, his gaze narrowing again before he blinked. Yugi watched his pupils for a moment, taking in the way they retracted and then spread out again. The distorted shape sent a shiver down his spine as he watched his gaze burn and flicker, embers dancing among crushed rubies.

"What? So you aren't going to talk to me?"

The red eyes sharpened and stared at him, thoughtful. "I had no plans to."

"But you just _said _that you figured you would come and speak to me."

"I changed my mind."

"Then what the hell are you still doing here? I still have school in the morning."

"Mmhmm."

Yugi watched him move over to the desk and lean against the metal, studying him with a pointed stare as if he wanted something from him. But he had no idea what the boy could possibly want from him or if there was even something that he really was attempting to get. He had said that he had something of his and he wanted it back, but he had made no attempts to take anything. And his mere presence made his skin crawl, set his mind on edge, watching him as he remained quiet and not the least bit receptive towards making conversation or even meeting him halfway.

"Okay, are you actually going to talk or not?"

The other teen's eyes stretched wide in feigned innocence, lips pulling back into a smirk of amusement. "I didn't really plan on it now that you mention it," he commented, chuckling softly. Yugi narrowed his eyes at the mocking laughter that made his irises dance with a thousand different shades of red, flecks that swam and scattered easily. He watched him tilt his head downwards slightly, his lashes casting a more defined shadow across his gaze. And he took in the way that the shadows spread in the outer ring of his eyes, a long line of darkness that circled the edges but faded almost completely near the center. His lips curved up into a wider smirk, laughing a little louder, gaze burning into the smaller boy's, and Yugi felt like he was trapped.

All it took was a blink and the pit he had fallen into gave way to control again. Yugi breathed a little hard for a second, testing, and then shook his head slowly. He was too tired for this, didn't have enough time for this.

"Then could you please get out?" he sighed, rubbing at his face. "It's hard enough trying to fall asleep as it is without you here."

Yugi almost missed the way his smirk curved further and his lips pulled back to show his teeth. He blinked and stared at him, eyes wide as he took in the way his canines glinted, too sharp to be normal. The smaller boy swallowed hard and then tensed his muscles, about to snap at him when he suddenly pushed himself off the desk and started towards him. The smaller teen's eyes widened drastically, suddenly too afraid to move, and the red-eyed boy leaned forward to whisper in his ear, snickering, "Watch your step, Yugi."

* * *

"Dude, Serenity is going to be so freaking happy to see you again," the blond laughed, grinning at him widely as he started down the white hallway with the other boy right behind him. Yugi glanced at the sterile surroundings in discomfort even as his lips pulled back into a soft smile at the statement. He was more than just a little aware of the girl's crush on him, something that she made incredibly obvious and flattered him though he had never thought of her as more than his best friend's little sister. She had never been serious about it, just like he wasn't when he kind of indulged in giving her longer hugs than he would anyone else. It was just that she was sick and it always got a massive smile and made her day when he was there to see her.

He had never come alone before, often because he tended to chicken out when he had to come to a hospital. It reminded him too much of his grandpa being bedridden and it always scared him and left him worried. And besides that, Joey often showed his overprotective big brother streak and on more than one occasion had said he had better not find out he had ever visited her without him there too.

Joey went ahead of him, chatting about something, and Yugi glanced around as the air took on a more rigid touch of ice. He stopped walking immediately, eyes widening as mist crept into his skull before enveloping his entire body through his blood. He blinked and then spun around quickly, yelping and stumbling backwards only to be caught by his shirt. The grip was tight enough that his breath cut off for a second as the other twisted the thin fabric. He held him in place, keeping him there on his feet, not the least bit amused by his response.

"Holy fucking shit…"

"Think you've got your footing yet?" he sneered coldly, voice lowered into a vicious coil of intense hatred, his instincts going off like an alarm to get away from the red-eyed boy. "Or need I hold your hand, _Yugi_?"

"What the fuck are you even doing here?" he spat instead, pushing him away and staring with wide eyes before swallowing hard. What was he doing here? How had he even found his way there? Had he followed him? But then how would he have gotten there without someone else noticing? Of course Joey would have pointed it out that they were being followed at some point. He had a habit of following people and knew when he was being followed, after all… "Did you _follow _me?"

The boy pulled him forward in a single movement that made him stagger a step before finding his equilibrium and staring at him in alarm. The red eyes flashed dangerously, dark for a moment before burning as he released him with a slight shove. "I didn't _need _to follow you," he snapped coldly, narrowing his gaze into slits and curling his lip back. "Your mind is chaotic enough I could hear it from halfway across this stupid little island."

Yugi blinked and bared his teeth, fighting down a small bit of panic. "And look, the _source _of that chaos is right in front of me," he bit out, pausing for a moment before frowning with his teeth digging into his cheek uncertainly. He had to have a reason to be here, right? He hadn't come in contact with the red-eyed teen since almost four days before and now here he was…

Surely there had to be a reason behind his sudden appearance, right? He couldn't imagine that he was just checking up on him. The red-eyed teen hardly seemed like one to do something so simple. Not that he seemed inclined towards giving a damn towards him in the first place, either…

"Did you need something or—?"

He didn't know why he had expected an answer; that was far too easy, too normal.

So of course the boy didn't give him one.

He was pressed against the wall, not in the same rough way that had happened in the alley. But it was enough that he felt the chill of the wall against his spine, at war with the frigidness that was the other boy's lips. His skin burned now, prickling and threatening to bring on perspiration. Ice and flames flickered and nipped his flesh, at war for dominance and leaving his head spinning momentarily. Yugi couldn't tell what was going on in his mind at the moment as his mouth moved against his, soft and deceiving where his tongue was brutal and sharp as a whip as it always was when he spoke. Icy moonlight and dark nights, stars and winter and persistence that was impossible to ignore…

He was applying too much pressure and Yugi could not move from his position, pressed against the wall with the taller teen. His lips were frosty and somewhat rough but they were growing softer, warmer, and the smaller boy knew it was his own skin warming him so rapidly. He blinked again, staring at the long lashes and golden-bronze skin, the muscles that worked beneath his flesh. Slowly, his body tensing drastically, he caught sight of the eye he was so focused on opening into a narrow slit of gleaming blood. His lashes gave his pupils that starburst effect once more, the shade of which he knew was almost vantablack. It was bottomless, all-encompassing, and it blurred the edges of his red irises, bleeding into them further. Yugi breathed raggedly into the other boy's mouth at the sight. The colors were blending, consuming each other steadily as if in competition for something he had no name for.

The smaller teen blinked in confusion for a moment, swallowing hard as he struggled and felt his hand snaking downwards; had he been touching him at any point before? He honestly couldn't tell anymore. Something in the back of his mind was fuzzy and seemed broken, desperate, bleeding and crying and writhing without sound. He wasn't even sure if he felt something in the pit of his stomach or anywhere in his body. The most he could grasp was the cold, chills like ice and numbing like spilled blood. By the gods, he didn't know what was going on…

_Get off of me_…

Was that too soft? He thought he barely even heard it as a whisper in the back of his mind, broken and trailing, completely lost somewhere in the daze that had settled over his body, his tired mind. He shifted, twitching to get out of his grip, his mind struggling with the concept of being trapped by the taller boy. His skin was starting to feel as if ants were crawling on it, not an unpleasant sensation but enough to strike his nerves. The boy must have been messing with him because he had never felt this way when they had interacted before. He tried to force some kind of warmth into his limbs, trying to gain some kind of control of his body to push him away or maybe pull him closer…

_Get off of me_.

The hand stopped and the writhing in the back of his mind came forward—panic, alarm, strength…

He pushed the boy hard enough to make him move away but the smaller teen wasn't completely oblivious to the reality of the situation. The boy had backed away on his own, not affected in the least by his attempt to push him. His attempt had been nothing more than a failure of a display of power. And he saw it in the other boy's eyes as he shot him the most condescending look he had ever seen before. His red eyes flashed coldly, growing bright in the center and dark in the corners. The effect reminded him almost of a drop of blood falling and splattering, a single drip that spread out in color, grew different shades of the same color in only milliseconds…

"What…? Honestly, what _are _you doing?" he muttered, moving his hands to his shoulders and pressing his palms into lean bone and soft flesh, confused. The cotton beneath his hands was chilled and left his palms tingling as they stared at each other. He felt so different. Was he colder? Was that even possible? He furrowed his brows as he looked the other boy over. He definitely was not warmer than the last time they had interacted. Something about his body temperature had changed, that was for sure, at least. "Gods, what are you doing?"

The other teen blinked as if he didn't know how to answer the question, as if the very suggestion was offensive and left him completely confused. He stared as if he had no idea what to do past this. And the look in his gaze said something akin not knowing how to grasp the situation or the statement Yugi had just made.

His eyes were dilated, dark and rimmed with vantablack.

Yugi furrowed his brows, staring in confusion and peering at the color.

It was like staring into complete blackness. It had no true edges, had no true definition. There was no depth, just emptiness, so dark that it left him feeling almost violated with the chill that misted over his insides. His mind was spitting out vague information, little thoughtless sputters of noise.

Vantablack, the darkest material or color in existence.

Absorbed all but .035 percent of light.

Light got trapped inside of it rather than bouncing off.

He shivered.

Maybe his eyes were just darker or something?

He blinked.

No. That was black, so dark that honestly he could only tell where the ends were because of the small ring of red that circled his pupils.

Yugi shivered again as he looked at him.

Ventablack was a nanofabric, but the color of his pupils essentially had the same effect. They had no actual ending for him to see aside from small lines, the starburst effect still somehow completely visible.

There was no light in his eyes. The whites beneath his lashes harbored nothing of the reflection of light that they should have.

Where he had been hoping it was just some dark, color-deprived red, he was finding immediately that it wasn't.

"What the fuck?"

In all actuality he had no idea if he was addressing the idea of this boy's eyes being so dark or if it was the fact that he still had his hand on him. His head was still spinning, almost terrified by the strength of the realization. He couldn't even see his own reflection in his eyes now. It was too dark, with nothing to show there…

Yugi kept him at the same distance despite the obvious tension that was developing under his fingers. The other boy's lips fell into a solid line, his jaw tensing, and his eyes flared with pure rage that sent his heart skipping beats. The red in his gaze flashed and burned, and Yugi knew he was ready to lunge forward to press their mouths together again.

"Stop doing that. Stop doing—_this_. Following me around, appearing out of nowhere, shoving your tongue down my throat and"—his cheeks lit in a blush and he swore he saw his reflection in the other boy's eyes suddenly, for a split second, small and innocent and completely inexperienced aside from a few nights of watching a couple of porn tapes—"your hand down my pants."

"Stop? Why should I stop?"

Yugi blinked, almost lost in the darkness that made up his eyes, how unnatural and terrifying they were, but found himself narrowing his gaze. Incredulity crept through him, half-expecting to have heard him wrong because surely even this red-eyed boy in front of him didn't have that kind of audacity. No one could be that blatantly disrespectful and still fail to see the error of the statement they had just made. He shook his head, about to snap at him, and then really _looked _at him. He wasn't sure if it was the disconnected emotions that had thrown him into realizing what was wrong with the entire situation. He wasn't sure if it was the way the words repeated themselves in his head and he couldn't hear the malice that should have accompanied them. But either way, it was enough to make him finally really look.

He honestly didn't understand why he wanted him to stop. It showed in the way he tilted his head only slightly and his shoulders relaxed beneath his hands for a split second. His voice had curled with interest, intense curiosity, and it showed now in his face. His lips had grown relaxed. The red in his eyes had stretched some, pushing away a bit of the darkness of his pupils and the borders of his irises. And it became apparent in that moment. He thought it was normal. He actually thought that what he was doing was completely normal.

His face was changing once more. His expression had drawn into an openly blank look. His left shoulder had risen beneath his fingers, slightly higher than the other, openly curious. His eyes had grown a bit wider than they had been moments before, completely focused on him now. They burned into his, blazing as his eyebrows drew forward slightly…

He blinked once and then followed it up with a second, slowly but surely shaking his head in disbelief. His mind tried to wrap around the concept and failed drastically. There was no way that someone could find this kind of thing normal. How exactly could anyone expect that _this _was normal? How could _anyone_…?

"Because I don't want you doing this! I don't want some kid I don't even _know _doing _this _kind of stuff to me, damn it," he snarled, pain rippling through his insides. The other boy didn't even blink but his eyes flashed and it was clear that he felt the same ache. Yugi's head spun violently for a moment, feeling his stomach twist in a vain attempt to dispel some of the sickness he knew was creeping through him. He had weaseled his way into his mind, had brought with his sudden appearance more pain than pleasure or _anything _evenly remotely satisfying. His emotions were still spiked and erratic, cruel and dangerous and solely overpowering, not the least bit tame, and his head didn't even feel like it was his own anymore. He still had to question where he ended and the other began. There were only _so_ many places where he could bleed and not find himself overlapping with the other boy. And that was just something far too impossibly strained a concept for him to even truly wrap his head around. How did one live like this? Was this what it felt like having split personalities, _multiple _people living in your head? But he doubted that one personality would want to molest the other.

And besides that, the boy was physical. He had opened his window, thrown him against the wall. He had pulled him off his stool at the arcade, saved him from an early defeat in that same game.

And yet his reflection in that single shard of glass had been darkness, shadows that had somehow managed to build a physical form that _bled_.

"When you leave here, stay away from me," he spat, narrowing his eyes at the laughter that came from the other boy. The rich noise made his skin crawl and his spine tense, a small feeling of sickness washing through him for a split second before growing enraged with his blatant dismissal. "_What_? What the hell is so funny? Stay _away _from me."

"That exactly. That right there. It's hilarious."

"No, it's serious. Come near me again and I swear I'm going to kick your ass, got it?"

"That's a sweet sentiment but it doesn't work."

"Oh? And why's that?"

"Because, besides the fact that you have no control over me, little game, I am not one to _bend _to another's _will_. Now, that aside, there is also the fact that staying away is impossible."

"_Do not_. I don't believe in bullshit obsessions. You're a piece of work and you push my buttons endlessly but you are _not _going to say I am your little obsession."

He glared at him furiously, tempted to dig his nails into his skin. For a moment Yugi wanted to tear him open. But he wasn't sure if it was the rage or something lingering beneath his skin, beneath that anger. It felt like several things were bubbling and resting somewhere inside of him. He could feel something pulsing inside of him, nothing that he recognized but felt so familiar.

"Hardly something so trivial," he drawled, voice ending in a loud purr, curving upwards and pressing into Yugi's skin like claws. For a moment they watched each other, Yugi's head spinning, and then the other boy caught him around the throat suddenly. His fingers were too cold, like someone pressing ice into his skin or the breeze of a winter too frozen to bear. "No, it is _necessity_. Pure and simple. I need you and you need me."

Yugi felt his insides twist. Bile rose in the back of his throat, too hot, tasting of acid that nearly scorched him. He went to claw at his wrist, desperate for relief as the burn trailed further upwards. The other boy snatched his hand away immediately before he could even think to make contact.

"That's a lie," he snapped coldly, wishing for a split second that his hand was still against his feverish skin. He was desperate for relief from the burn that flared in his blood and heated his skin, left him wanting to stick his head in the freezer. "And you're a coward to hide behind a statement like that. I don't need you. Maybe you need me—"

"Are you truly so foolish? One thing I had never thought attributed to you was stupidity. Are you about to prove me wrong?"

The smaller teen opened and closed his mouth once before falling silent. There was some truth to his words and Yugi recognized it somewhere in the scattered outer regions of his mind. An attraction of some kind, beyond physical, primal and feral, with enough power to make him really consider the words he had just spoken. It was just enough to stop him from lashing out and attacking him, to keep him from repeating himself, and yet Yugi had no idea how to even attempt scratching the surface of it.

Or…maybe he did because the key to it seemed to be standing right in front of him, red-eyed and tall, sharp lines and dangerous features.

"You're right. I recognize that. So here's what's going to happen."

"Did you disregard my statement from before?"

"Oh, you can keep your stubborn will but if you really want my help, all this constant touching is going to stop."

"Your idea is cute."

Yugi sighed loudly, reaching up to pull on a handful of his bangs with a shake of his head. He kept his other hand on the boy's shoulder, wanting to drown in the sensation of cold that came with the contact. He could feel heat building inside of him, fire burning and lashing at every part of him. And the boy in front of him had to be the only cure, the ice that stood before him effortlessly.

It would have been so easy to grasp him, hold him close, draw the chill from him so that he no longer burned. Yet his mind was screaming for him to stop while he was ahead, trying to remind him of his anger. Of the reason he was so put off in the first place. Maybe the reason his skin burned so much as well…

Physical, personal boundaries.

He guessed he would have to teach him that.

"Every time you stick your hand down my pants, I'm going to punch you."

Yugi fought back a flinch at his own incredulousness. He honestly couldn't believe he had just said that. Violence had never been his forte and he had always been one to shy away from it, never one to instigate. He knew how to defend himself when he needed to, but most of the time he didn't have the heart to do that in the first place. The fact that he had even threatened him like this was enough to make him doubt his own words. He had never punched someone before. Unless he counted his panicked attack on the teen in front of him when he had leaped onto his bed like that that night. But this was far from being panicked.

He wasn't even truly mad. He was flustered and trying to find some kind of patience to work with. This was just ridiculous in all actuality. He was getting a little worried because how could he not know what boundaries were and how to work with them? How did you make it through life like that? How _could _you make it through life like that?

Surely someone would have lashed out if he had gotten into their personal space as he was doing with the smaller teen. Someone like Ushio or Joey or Tristan would have knocked him off his feet by now. Probably he would be a bloodied mess by now if he had ever encountered them in the same way he did Yugi. Of course Yugi was never one to hit someone else and the idea made him a little squeamish, but someone else would have done it by now, right? He found it impossible to believe that someone would have done so.

Even with the strength and danger that came off the boy in waves like cold ice and winter, like glaciers in the ocean, it was impossible. It was just impossible for him to get away with doing this kind of stuff with someone else. Unscathed? That was so far from possible that the very notion was almost laughable. There was no way that he could just do that…

The boy in front of him blinked, staring for a moment, and then he shifted forward. Yugi's eyes widened drastically, blinking in shock at the proximity. And then he felt his hand dig into his jeans, caught the smirk that glimmered in his darkened eyes. Worry crept through him like fog. Was he supposed to hit him? Really hit him? He couldn't shake off the trepidation that came with just the thought but if he didn't, that just gave the other boy room to keep pushing at him. His resolve shook violently even as he pulled his hand back and clipped him across the cheek. He fought back a tremor and the red eyes narrowed, staring at him as his flesh started darkening with a bruise across his cheekbone. Yugi blinked, unsure, and realized with a small bit of discomfort that he shouldn't have been bruising so quickly. But the hand moved in his pants, stroking, and the smaller boy let out a startled squeak before swallowing back a loud moan and glaring in annoyance.

Despite the nasty bruise that was beginning to form, it was pretty obvious he had done nothing to actually hurt him. The smaller teen wanted to bang his head against a wall now.

"Are you serious right now? Stop that!" he snapped, flustered and feeling his head swim for a second with excitement and euphoria that wasn't natural, bred deep in his soul somewhere where he couldn't quite grasp it. "I'll punch you again."

"You hit like a child," the other drawled, rolling his eyes with a wide smirk. The words hit him with such relief that it stunned him momentarily before they truly connected with him. "It's rather entertaining."

Yugi flushed impossibly red, scowling angrily and shaking his head. "Just let go already," he grumbled, reaching for his arm and then shivering with an annoyed look at the other boy. He was smirking widely, lips pulled up into a devilish curve of pure amusement and mockery. "By the gods, do you know what personal space is? Stop already!"

"You know, you keep saying that and yet you have done nothing to actually _make_ me stop, Yugi."

"You keep…ooh…_Doing that_! It's distracting!"

"Or you're not nearly as serious about me stopping as you're trying to convey." He pulled his hand but, to Yugi's humiliated relief, did not move out of his grip, allowing his hand to stay rested on his shoulder. The smaller teen would have fallen backwards if not for the wall against his back, feeling suddenly confused and distinctly disoriented. It was almost like the world was spinning around him, faster than he could grasp, like he was underwater. His cheeks flushed completely, feeling disconnected and tired with the sensation. "Have fun with the whore."

His eyes stretched wide, startled by the statement and trying to gather some footing again. The red eyes were glaring disdainfully as he slipped out of his grip and started backing up. "Serenity is not a"—he watched the other boy snort and then step back _into _the wall—"w—_what the fuck_?"

The teen pressed his palms against the wall, searching but only hearing laughter in the back of his head. He pulled away from the painted brick after a long minute, reaching up to chew on his thumbnail with a small bit of dread. Had he done something to Serenity? Or was he merely trying—and apparently succeeding—to mess with his head?

Neither choice seemed out of the realm of possibility to him. Odds were that he was messing with him but he couldn't shake the thought he could have harmed the brunette. She was going blind, small, timid and so naïve that it bordered pathetic at times. But she was also sweet and at times she could actually seem smart. It was rare but it happened…

Yugi shook his head and winced, snatching his finger away when he tasted blood. He didn't think that Joey would still be inside the room if something had happened to his sister. He would have been running around getting help and trying to save her.

The small teen glanced around uncertainly, feeling as if the one time he didn't look, the other would appear behind him. He wandered slowly down the hall, skin crawling with the idea that he was nearby though he couldn't see him. But he couldn't feel him either and the idea that he could disappear but still watch him like this made his stomach twist violently.

It shouldn't have surprised him, however, because he knew from the incident at the arcade that it was possible. He had, after all, seen all of his friends and everyone around him, but none of them had noticed them.

He wondered vaguely what would have happened if they had been able to. He thought maybe Joey would have started laughing or gone after the other teen. But then…maybe not. In his place, with the aura that pulsed like a drop in temperature, he didn't think for a second that he would have gone running into that situation. Especially not if that boy had turned those red eyes on him; that gaze alone would have been enough to make him hesitate.

Yugi closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in deeply, and then stepped through the doorway. Joey's voice hit his ears right before the smell of bento and fresh white rice made him glance at the tray in front of the brunette. He stared at the meal for a moment and then looked to the thin girl behind it.

Serenity was a little smaller than he would have guessed, almost as if she had lost weight rather than gained it. She was a few days short of hitting her fifteenth birthday, with long auburn hair and hazel eyes that looked gray at times. He guessed that was more of the disease inside of her, causing her to grow blind, rather than the actual color, but it was there. Little specks of gray bordered her pupils at times, and her pupils had a cloudy aspect to them, almost bluish at times when the lights hit them right.

He wasn't entirely sure what her condition was. Joey refused to actually tell him, deeming it something taboo among the group of them. And he was extremely keen about not allowing Tristan to even know that she existed in the first place. Yugi didn't know if that was because she was his sister and he was being extremely overprotective or if it was because he thought for sure Tristan would have a thing for her.

He himself had run across her by accident. He'd followed Joey after school one day when he noticed how weird he had been acting. He had also noticed the massive teddy bear he had been lugging around in his backpack and a small part of him had been ready to congratulate him on getting a date. If he hadn't been so focused on Joey, he wouldn't have run into a boy who threatened to slit his throat and Joey wouldn't have gotten into the fight that he had. And then Yugi wouldn't have met Serenity when Joey sighed and said he was running late and they had to hurry.

Back then Serenity had been just as small as she was now but her eyes had been clearer. Yugi hadn't commented on it before and he didn't do that now, instead chewing his cheek as he wandered forward a few steps into the room. When he had met her, he recognized that puppy-love look in her eyes from the expression that Joey had given her nurse. The woman had disregarded it easily, teasing him gently but making it clear she wasn't interested, but the expression on both siblings' faces had been nearly identical. Yugi hadn't let her down as bluntly as the nurse but Joey had made a rather avid attempt at bringing up Tea every chance he got when he noticed Serenity making eyes at him. The smaller teen hardly cared that she had a puppy crush or that he became the center of her world when he was around, instead trying to make it easier for her with friendliness. It wasn't the best technique when it came down to it and he felt like he was leading her on more often than not, but most of the time he could see that she understood.

"Yugi!"

The small boy forced a wide smile onto his face, hoping vaguely that it reached his eyes, and wandered further into the room. "Hi, Serenity," he murmured, glancing at Joey sideways for a second to see the blond beaming. Obviously he hadn't told her he was going to be there and had been waiting for his appearance. Yugi snorted, smiling a little easier, and wandered over to the bed where she was pushing the tray away and holding her arms open for him.

He embraced her, feeling a dull ache somewhere in the back of his mind at the contact. He felt too hot and clammy, his flesh burning, and he knew without thought that for whatever reason he longed for the other boy, for the chill of his skin. He wished to brush their hands or just bask in that cold aura he exerted. He wanted something to take the heat from his skin, to dull some of the fire, and it was nothing that the girl could do for him.

"How have you been?" he asked, ignoring the way his stomach twisted at the flash of strawberry and coconut shampoo that she had used in her hair. The long red strands tickled his nose and touched his cheeks with a hint of coolness that made him fight off a flinch. The room was suddenly too warm and it felt almost suffocating to try breathing, the window too small to even observe the earth below. He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to fight off some of the heaviness that suddenly weighed down his limbs and made his head spin.

"Good," she replied, finally releasing him and allowing him to step back once. The light danced in front of his eyes for a split second, the white walls making him feel sick. Everything just had to be so sterile, so clean, immaculate—it was too much like his own room aside from the broken color they sported. He longed for sky blue for a moment, for his golden-yellow comforter and the plush indigo carpet. The hospital always made him feel sick, like he needed to get away, to run. He had never been sure if it was because of his own time spent in it at one point or if it was because of the many times his grandpa had ended up there.

Joey leaned forward on his stool and glanced at Yugi sideways for a second before turning to his sister once more. The smaller teen didn't have to think about it to know for a fact that he would not bring up her condition. "Am I the best big brother or what?" he demanded teasingly, glancing at Yugi and winking playfully.

The smaller boy snorted and rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless. A chill crept over his spine, almost as if looking for acknowledgment but not caring enough to bug him further as it dissipated almost immediately. He wasn't there when Yugi took a swift glance around with his eyes, ignoring the urge to start turning his head and looking everywhere surrounding them.

"The very best," Serenity declared, making the smaller teen wonder if maybe she sometimes acted the way she did to humor her brother. But it was so constant that he had to doubt the idea, instead glancing at the window. A few people were scurrying by on the sidewalks, a couple of cars passing. He thought he heard a dog barking somewhere but it wasn't enough to make him step towards the glass.

He could feel her stare but he wondered vaguely if she could actually see him completely; the thought was unnerving as he locked eyes with her.

Yugi remembered her saying that her eyesight was actually more blurry when something wasn't immediately close. But she had splotches of black and sometimes saw awkward shapes from the way her vision was strained in her left eye. She often called it her "blind side" and refused adamantly to let others into her left field of vision. Sometimes he thought she was scared of it. Other times he thought it was just because it was uncomfortable not being able to see what was going on so close to her.

She apparently had only about twenty-five or thirty degrees of sight but according to the doctors her brain was working overtime to make her feel as if she had all of it. Yugi ignored the thought and glanced out the window again curiously. A little girl was running after two boys. A mom was handing her daughter an ice cream cone.

His spine tensed beneath his skin suddenly as his eyes finally caught sight of him. The red-eyed demon was actually far higher up than he had originally thought when he had lowered his eyes to the streets. No, he was sitting on the roof across from the hospital, attention on the streets as well, head tilted to the side.

The light hit his body at an angle that made his shadow stretch across his clothing almost as if he were wearing black. But the indigo shade was just noticeable at the edges of his frame. The white-button up shirt was cast a deep gray that made him suppress a shiver. His hands resting in his lap seemed a shade darker, barely even affected by the shadow he cast. The tips of his hair looked as if they were glowing, casting a gleam of red atop a deep black star-shaped flame. Yugi blinked once, narrowing his eyes faintly, taking in the way his lightning rod bangs and streaks seemed to absorb and project the light in shallow pools of devastating gold. With his attention cast downward, he couldn't see his eyes but he was suddenly desperate for them. Something inside of him burned with need, his insides twisting and warming, begging for him to look up, to give him a glimpse.

The sharp lines of his jaw looked more defined than ever with his hunched position. His jacket's softer design gave them distinction that made him swallow hard for a split second. His lashes looked longer, his cheekbones a little higher, or maybe just sharper with the angle.

_Come on, come on_…_look up_…

He chewed his cheek until it bled, feeling fresh pain that dulled some of the hollow desire that was burning inside of him. _Look up_…_lift your head a little_…_just a little_…

The boy seemed to hear him because his head turned but he didn't raise it, still focused on something on the streets below. Yugi nearly snarled in frustration, wishing he could project the emotion towards the other boy and breathing hard through his nose once. He wasn't reacting at all—what was that he had said about being able to hear him no matter where he was? Was that bullshit or was he just ignoring him?

"Uh, Yug, what's up?"

Yugi didn't look away from the window, ignoring the urge to turn his head and see the worried expression on his friend's face. No, if he looked away, the boy would be gone. He could feel it. It was an absolution that burned in the pit of his stomach as he stared at him. The moment he turned away for even a second, the boy would be gone.

"Nothing. Just watching some kids playing in the street…" he muttered somewhat dismissively, extremely distracted. _Look up_!

_Look up_.

_Look up. _

_Look up._

_Look up._

Look—

The boy seemed to finally lose his patience with the repetition, eyelids fluttering for a split second before he raised his head and glowered at him. His eyes were glowing, the pupils nonexistent from the distance. His gaze was almost like a beacon, bright red and burning into his as he froze in place. He thought of hellfire and Christmas lights, so oddly conflicting in comparison but perfect for describing that ethereal gleam.

"Yug," Joey repeated, sounding so extremely confused and concerned that Yugi's head jerked in his direction before he could think to stop himself. The blond's brown eyes were wide as they stared at each other, his lips pulled down into a small frown. "You okay?"

_No_, he decided almost immediately, knowing the boy was gone and feeling immediately sick with the idea. "Yeah," he lied smoothly, smiling at him and casting a glance out the window just out of curiosity.

The roof was empty again, a small flicker of deep blue disappearing just as soon as it had appeared in the corner of his eye. He watched it for a moment, checking for more, and then turned back to face the other two occupants.

"I'm fine. I thought I saw something but I guess not," he murmured, shrugging and feeling his mouth grow bitter with the words. How did he even manage to do that? The disappearing act was grating on his nerves.


	4. Chapter IV

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Warning: Cursing should be relatively mild but sometimes grows a little more at times, Season 0 Yami...and he's a little more unhinged than usual, so keep that in mind**.

**Note: There are mentions of blood, some graphic images of death, sensual moments and feelings, touches of violence/abuse**

**Update Schedule: I'm going to try for bi-weekly updates**

**Writing Note: I'm trying a new, more descriptive style for a story I plan to write later so tell me how I did with it?**

**Anyways, the story is a way to help get rid of some writer's block I'm dealing with so it's serving as a style-trial and a way to get back into writing.**

* * *

Chapter IV

Yugi waited around long after midnight. His room was basked in the yellow glow of his lamp and he was tempted to turn it off just so that he could see the silver moonlight touching the floor next to him. His chemistry notes gave off a sharp glare with the oddly glossy sheen of his paper as he flipped through some loose leaf lectures inside of a couple of folders. He didn't look up, instead reading a passage and repeating it to himself before finally raising his head to look at his visitor. The boy narrowed his eyes as the small teen shifted to sit back on his haunches. His gaze looked sharper than usual, darker with the shadow of his lashes from where his head was tipped slightly downward. He watched him from where he sat surrounded by what seemed like a sea of yellow-tinted shiny white paper marred only by black ink and gray graphite.

"I'm sorry for hitting you earlier."

For a moment the words didn't connect in his head and then his eyes widened in confusion, irises seemingly endless in depth with the emotion. "What?" he muttered in an incredulous voice a moment later. His eyes narrowed and bore into some of the paper, the glare unnaturally sharp and making his lips curl back.

"I apologized for punching you."

He blinked and shook his head slowly, red eyes flashing with that same incredulousness clouding his face. His gaze shot to Yugi's, narrowing into slits as they locked with his and the smaller fought off a shiver at the darkness that seemed to swim in his red eyes. "Why?" he finally muttered, voice lowering to a crisp soft snarl that made him grow rigid as the taller boy's shoulders rose slightly as if he were offended by the statement. He supposed that stood as testament to just how much the boy really did not understand, how neither of them had even an inch of common ground to truly stand on at the moment. How was he supposed to do anything if he had no understanding of him to help him do so?

And what was worse was that question was not even sharp or cautious or even confused. It was something along the lines of fear, bordering panic and desperation. His voice had dipped in a way that made it seem almost as if he struggled to understand but had no way of knowing. He did not look to be wracked in anxiety but the cold note came out almost as if his voice was on the very verge of breaking entirely. And Yugi didn't have to think about it to know that his body was tensed with the open intention of fleeing.

"Because you didn't deserve it," Yugi finally stated softly, trying to make his voice warm and gentle, as if he were soothing a scared child. He knew the comparison was wrong and terribly so, but there was nothing else he could think of. And he didn't want to do anything to make him flee suddenly. It always worried him that the moment he disappeared, Yugi was never going to see him again and with the need just to see his eyes earlier at the hospital, he knew he couldn't just let him vanish like that. Those eyes were as sharp as daggers gleaming with blood and the way his muscles held his body in place so tightly, he looked extremely like a wild animal. Yugi fought back a shiver. He looked dangerous and cunning and _cornered_. "You know, I've never punched anyone before. I, um…I don't fight. I'm a pacifist."

"I didn't—what the fuck is a pacifist?"

The smaller boy laughed at the way his voice went from as sharp as those glinting canines hidden behind his lips to completely confused and partially frustrated. "It's a person who believes that war and violence are unjustifiable," he explained softly.

"That sounds stupid."

Yugi snickered and shook his head at the sharp statement, the arrogance that showed in his eyes as his voice gave birth to the words. He made no move for apology though the smaller boy had expected none, instead looking around the room slowly, as if he were searching for something. "I guess it could be seen that way by others," he admitted, smiling and giving him a small look of amusement. The other boy looked relaxed now, shoulders no longer raised, his tensed spine letting loose the rigidity it had possessed moments before. It was almost as if the last five seconds had never happened and the entire idea of his rigid stance was but a mere trick of the eye. "Some people would argue that they're mostly pacifistic but support violence under certain circumstances."

He didn't spare him a glance, red eyes searching, but his voice was curious with a small slight touch of amusement. "Are you one of them or do you go against everything pertaining to violence?"

He chewed his cheek to fight off a shiver at the purr that ended his words. "I don't know. I think certain circumstances can all for violence if it's completely unavoidable but I would never try to hurt someone for no reason," he admitted quietly, frowning as he studied the other boy. He wondered vaguely if he would dirty his hands with violence. It was obvious that he favored it, as the purr that had carried in his baritone voice indicated without effort. "Most of the time I'm against it but sometimes it's not an option to try being peaceful about something."

"So if someone tried to kill you…"

His voice dipped with pure curiosity and such intense interest that Yugi almost felt it was out of place when he didn't turn his head to regard him. Instead those red eyes were still scouring his room for something, looking every which way for whatever it was he had stolen from him without meaning to.

"Are you going to attempt that some time soon?"

The other's ruby red eyes went from the closet unit to his and narrowed slowly into slits of gleaming jewels. "Would you even try to stop me?" he inquired in a hiss, voice cautious and curious.

"Maybe. I don't know. I've never actually had my life threatened."

"No? The mammoth of a boy at your school? The one who claimed he would protect you from the blond and his brown-haired friend."

Yugi froze in place at the cruel twist of his voice, eyes widening drastically only as the words slowly connected in his head. "How do you know about Ushio?" he breathed, blinking and feeling tension creep into his spine as he studied the other boy.

"I know a lot of things. Most of them are about or revolve around you, admittedly, but his sickness is mine," he stated calmly, smirking and turning away. His eyes combed over his room for a second again, suddenly looking from one wall to the next. His voice grew sharp, scornful and vicious as he bared his teeth and snarled, "This…place is tiny. Like a little box painted blue."

The smaller teen didn't answer immediately, still puzzling together what that statement about Ushio really meant. He cast the other boy a cautious glance. Did he have something to do with the fact that his "protector" had started to slowly but surely lose his mind in front of everyone at school? Was he the one that had driven his parents to have his brain scanned? Yugi swallowed hard as he looked at him. Was it possible that he had caused the tumor to form in the massive teen's head? The surgery had removed it as far as he knew, but Ushio still wasn't at school. But he did have the comfort of knowing that he was not dead because he hadn't appeared on the news or in the paper as deceased.

"Yeah, the house isn't all that big," he muttered distractedly, blinking and fighting off some of the daze that had settled in his head with the thoughts swarming around in his skull. "It's pretty small. I don't know though, it seems nice enough. Perfect, actually."

"You don't feel frustrated with such a tiny space?" the boy demanded incredulously, eyes narrowed into slits as he turned on him and stared with a furious expression. Yugi could feel the temperature dropping in sudden spikes of cold that made him blink before it settled into something akin the wintry night air outside. "This small amount of space does not irritate you or anything?"

"I never said that," Yugi argued, frowning at the sharp disgust that plagued his words. He glanced at the window for a split second and then turned back immediately, relieved to find him still standing there, awaiting an explanation with scornful eyes. "I mean, yeah, sometimes I wish I had more room, that the house was bigger, because the business that goes on downstairs in the shop does kind of make for a small amount of paranoia. I kind of find myself worrying that someone will find their way upstairs when Grandpa isn't looking and might try to steal something…but past that not so much. I think it's fine for the most part."

"I don't understand that."

"Well, I'm content with a small home. It's not about the size, anyways. It's safe, it's warm—it keeps the weather out. It does everything a home is supposed to. It fosters a family and has warm memories." He shrugged after a moment, tilting his head as he looked the other boy over. "I've never really been one for the big things anyways. I think it's fine."

"You don't feel as if the walls are closing in?" the boy snarled angrily, eyes flickering around again for a brief second before taking in the slope of the roof as if he had never noticed it before.

"It's just the slope of the wall that gives that appearance. If it wasn't for that, it wouldn't seem as small or…confined," he explained, looking at one of his chemistry notes. He spent a moment staring at a formula he had no care for, but anything just for a moment to look away from the boy in front of him. His head was starting to hurt somewhat and he questioned the other's influence on his dazed mind. He could feel his slight stun and awkward confusion but he couldn't tell if that was what was causing it. A whisper of doubt crept through him, feeling almost sick to his stomach with the possibility of overestimating how much he could take being around the other. Everything about him seemed strange and disconnected to him. Yugi couldn't understand how he was supposed to try to reach out to him but he knew somewhere in his gut that he needed to. He admitted already that he felt the same strange draw that the other boy did, that he needed him for whatever reason, primal and strange as it was. So they had to have some kind of common ground between them that he could use to bridge the gap, right?

"Your room is like the sky." Yugi looked up in confusion, glancing at the walls slowly and going to open his mouth before falling silent as the boy continued. His voice lowered scornfully, lip curling back as the smaller boy watched him curiously. "The bed is the sun, the desk and that nightstand are rain clouds. The walls are the sky, the little…dresser or whatever over there is a regular cloud. The floor is like when the sun is setting and the closet system over there is dark enough to be the night sky before it turns black."

He blinked and looked at the walls, the sky blue shade that hurt his eyes in a pleasurable way in direct sunlight, the plush carpet colored purple, the gray of the nightstand and the desk, the closet unit, the white case. He wondered vaguely just what the other boy saw in the room, if he could see the memories that made up the foundation of the four walls. But he doubted it, because if he could, then they were probably shoved aside in his distaste and frustration at the size.

"Yeah, I guess so," he replied absently, shrugging as he looked at him curiously. "I never really noticed before."

"You failed to notice it?" the boy spat coldly, shaking his head even as his eyes flickered around and then very suddenly settled on him. Yugi froze in place, startled, alarmed that he hadn't been given even a moment to prepare for the blaze of burning lava and livid fire. But then he realized his eyes were lower than his face, focused seemingly under his arms from where he had them stretched out to start putting his notes back into one of the folders. "I am surprised you are not telling me you set it all up this way for a particular reason."

"Well, actually, my mom and I set it up. I never really…thought about the arrangements, honestly," he murmured softly, glancing around and struggling to find his line of vision. All he saw was papers, his arms, and he knew neither of those interested him. They would never be something to draw out that deceptively warm purr that had flushed through the air. "It just kind of happened that way."

"The colors never…made you question anything?"

"You haven't seen the rest of the house have you?" he laughed, raising a brow and smiling in amusement. "The hallway is red-violet. Honestly, the fact that room is like this and the walls are this color is not even a question to me."

Yugi glanced from his red eyes to the piles of paper once more and then slowly further downwards, trying to look for anything that could have captured his attention like this. He glanced at the nightstand and then next to him before focusing in on it like something had just pushed his head to give him a shared focus. The Puzzle. He was staring at the Puzzle. He double-checked that the Puzzle was the thing that held his attention, how it hung around his neck with the thick dark silver chain and the tip lightly pressed into the comforter beneath him. The upside-down pyramid glistened with a beam of light from the lamp, startlingly sharp against the dark yellow-gold of the comforter. He glanced back at him and then the Puzzle, finally bringing his eyes to the other boy's as his hands went to cup the pendant and back of the chain.

"Do you want it?"

The other boy blinked and slowly brought his eyes to his. For a moment he almost thought he was sightless with the blank glazed over look he was given, but then his lips twisted cruelly. "What?" he hissed, voice incredulous and dark with skepticism as his eyes took on that of someone peering at a mental patient.

"The Puzzle. Do you want it?"

Yugi frowned when he burst out laughing, shaking his head with cruel red eyes that glimmered with pure amusement. His lips drew back into the widest of smirks, the very curve of his mouth saying enough to tell Yugi that he was laughing at his naivety. "Are you challenging me to a Shadow Game, Yugi?"

"Shadow Game?" he echoed, taking a moment to remember the fact that his grandpa had mentioned the very same more than once when he had worn or worked on the Puzzle around him. There weren't many times where the Puzzle was brought up and the subject of Shadow Games weren't. When he was eight, his grandpa had told him that if he ever played a Shadow Game it would be something along the lines of having his heart weighed as if he were dying and passing on into the afterlife. Yugi blinked and narrowed his eyes slowly, confused by the very idea and the incredulous and ridiculously amused context that the boy mentioned it in. His grandpa had spoken of them as if they were dangerous, dark and living and ready to destroy and wreak havoc on anything around them and the players at any moment. But this boy in front of him said it was such perfect nonchalance that it made his skin crawl. He couldn't fight off the realization that the boy was probably just as dangerous as the games were, that maybe he lived for them or something…

He made a small scoffing noise, voice scornful as he hissed, "Never mind."

"You can have the Puzzle. I'll give it to you if you want it…"

Red eyes flashed with a million different shades of the color and then his pupils contracted for a split second as their gazes locked. Yugi couldn't help but feel as if he were trying to find a trick in his words, searching his soul through eye contact and leaving him growing slightly cold. Finally the boy turned away and looked at the desk behind him, studying it for a moment before wandering over and heading towards one of the drawers. The smaller teen watched him as he ran his nails over the plastic, tapping it noisily and making his head ring for a second. He dragged his nails after a moment and the screech made him flinch even as alarms shot through his body violently. He wanted to snap at him to knock it off, but part of him was frozen with the realization that the other was waiting for something that he couldn't understand.

It was as if some deep instinct inside of him was telling him to remain absolutely calm while the others screamed for outright panic. For a moment he didn't know if he should follow the majority or the single speck of deep rooted calm that was lingering beneath his skin. He decided he would figure out which to follow later, when he knew what the other was doing, and watched as the boy pulled out his Duel Monsters deck.

Yugi furrowed his brows slowly, watching the boy remain staring at the deck with a studious expression. He leafed through the deck for a moment, studying and lingering over several cards that Yugi recognized immediately despite the fact that he couldn't see them clearly from his position on the bed. It was as if the boy was flashing them in his mind's eye but he couldn't see the image or even the name, and could only feel the deep rooted affection that came with each of them. The smaller boy opened his mouth to ask the rather stupid question of whether or not he wanted to play, and then stiffened when the boy weighed them in his hands slowly. Yugi shivered, alarm creeping through him violently and burning his insides, and the other boy turned his head towards him. His lips twisted upwards into a cruel little smirk that took far too long to form, and Yugi's heart skipped violently as he pocketed them.

"What the hell are you…?"

He couldn't fathom what he wanted with that deck of cards. He hardly thought that he wanted to play with them, not even with that curious gleam he had encountered watching him. Yugi bit back a sharp retort as those eyes burned with laughter and he started to back up.

"Give that back!" he spat, suddenly fearful, lunging just as the other leaped onto the desk, winked at him playfully, and then jumped out the window and disappeared from sight.

_Son of a bitch_! Yugi thought in a panic, not bothering to look out the window before taking off down the stairs. He stumbled over his shoes where the rested at the door dividing the game shop and the house above, lurching forward but catching himself by some miracle and stopping to throw them on. The boy was waiting for him at the end of the street as he rushed out and looked around with wild eyes. His red eyes were glittering fiercely even with the distance between them and that smirk only grew wider as he backed up two steps and then turned and raced off. The smaller teen bit his cheek and fought off a snarl before hurrying after him.

Something on his insides twisted and curled, angry and bitter and full of resentment that he didn't recognize. The impact was almost enough to send him stumbling, his lungs feeling weak and his mind feeling suddenly jumbled and fractured. Something flashed inside of him—vaguely akin cold frustration that leaked from his heart into his veins for a moment before fading completely. Yugi thought it was something that the other felt rather than himself, lingering beneath his skin like some kind of disease. His mind rushed with ideas of what it was that the other hated so keenly like this but shook it off to focus on trying to find him.

Something moved in the corner of his vision but he didn't turn towards it, instead running as his gut told him to. The Puzzle burned against his skin, striking his abdomen and searing through his clothing with a fierce heat.

The image of a park, vacant in the dark, painted somewhat silver and bluish with the moonlight and hints of yellow from a streetlight further along, came to mind almost immediately. His feet strained with the speed, the way he was putting far too much weight in one step and not the other. The trees were thick and lacked leaves, unusually bright in the strips of exposed wood where the bark should have been, having popped and fallen in the newest height of cold that this winter brought with it. The lake had a frosty covering to it that glistened like beautiful glimmering dewdrops in the moonlight, crystallized slightly. His ankle throbbed weakly with pain as he forced another step and focused more on the image burning a place into his mind. The water was moving beneath the lean layer of ice painted white against the darkness, bubbles of air escaping and breaking off some small chips.

Yugi didn't have to think about it to know where the boy was, where he was heading towards without conscious thought. The Puzzle's weight seemed to lessen, the presence of heat beginning to leave him slowly but surely. He wove a way around a couple of apartment complexes and further down the street, finding the park just as the boy had showed him moments before.

He sensed him like some kind of gentle layer of wind touching his skin. He couldn't tell if it was warm or cold or just there. The night air was frosty enough that he couldn't concentrate on anything else, completely mortified by the fact that he was so underdressed. His skin was rising in small bumps and his breath felt a little strained as he started to slow somewhat. The air reminded him just how horribly bare he was to the elements safe for the material of the thin shirt and pants he wore.

His skin was growing tighter, the bumps rapidly becoming more abundant. His movements fell slower yet, and a puff of white air in front of his face made him shiver as he looked at the crystal-like gleams against the moonlight. Gods, he just had to have the moron steal his deck right in the middle of the night of one of the coldest winters that Domino had ever experienced.

Snow was coming soon enough. They expected at least five or six inches to come through Domino, maybe in a week, maybe two. Most of them hoped that the storms would pass before they could get even half of the expected amount but he half wanted it and half dreaded the idea of it.

Yugi shook the idea off and continued walking, the grass crunching beneath his feet like chips of ice. What was the reason for stealing his deck in the first place? The grass was rough beneath his shoes, frosty and frozen in place from where it was painted unusually light from winter. The ground was far too cold where his shoes pressed into it and the possibility of stealth was destroyed so completely he couldn't even find it in himself to try to attempt it.

He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or bad, in all actuality. On one hand, it meant that the other boy couldn't move without him hearing but it also made it hard for him to get to him without him catching onto his location as well. He guessed, just as well, that the boy would have started moving away if he was going to. But he could feel that he was not moving.

He knew this somewhere in the back of his mind even as most of his focus was struggling to understand the concept of his theft, why he was bothering to lead him along like this. His gut told him immediately that he was still there. The lingering taste of frustration and resentment and bitterness that coated his tongue said as much. The familiarity that crept up on him doubled the offer of finding him easily somewhere nearby.

It was obvious the boy hadn't meant to steal the deck and keep it forever. He wouldn't have stopped for him to catch up, waited at the end of the street and then fled. He would have taken off before he could even actually comprehend what was going on. In the back of his mind he recognized this but half of him was still wondering about the idea of why he even bothered. Had he meant to lead him out into the darkness to kill him?

But he didn't think that he would do so. There was something off about the very idea as it lingered in his head. He didn't even think the other boy would actually hurt him. And it made more sense for him to have done something to harm him before now, before he would attempt to kill him, right?

Yugi shook the idea off, chewing his cheek and scanning the area with his eyes; the lake should have been coming up soon. And then the only real question would be where the boy was at. Was he hidden in a tree? No, he would have spotted him by now; there was no foliage to hide his shape in shadows. Then again, he had been able to turn himself into an invisible spectator at the arcade and at the hospital. But he felt like he would have _known _if that was what was happening. He thought maybe he would have felt the same way he had at the hospital when he had suspected he was there though he couldn't see him. The ground had to be where he was hiding, among tree trunks somewhere without actually holding himself out of the smaller boy's line of sight. He was somewhere in the shadows…

He didn't bother to try calling out to him, not when he didn't even have an idea of what his name could be, not that he would have done so otherwise. There was just something about calling out in the dark, when he was defenseless and all but alone, that kept him from ever attempting to do so in his life. Maybe it was just the fact that if he could hear his voice then someone else could too and he didn't need someone coming towards him out of nowhere.

He already had the other boy to worry about.

And even though the mention of Ushio had been so completely brief, he still wondered what his words meant. What did that even mean when he said that Ushio's disease was his own? _Could _he have actually caused Ushio to grow a tumor?

Yugi shook his head. That wasn't possible, was it?

He spotted him standing against one of the trunks, arms crossed, leaning back against the stripped bark, the deck in one hand and a single card in the other. The posture was enough to make Yugi stop short for a moment, not sure if he was admiring the way that the moonlight ceased to touch him or if it was the alarms going off in his head. He looked intimidating and ready to flay him. If not for the fact he was only holding playing cards in his hands, he would have thought immediately hat he planned to do so.

He shook the idea off slowly, taking in the contours of his jaw for a second, trying to figure out if he was about to speak or not, explain himself. His eyes flickered upwards, taking in his closed gaze, the long lines of black his glossy lashes made even in the darkness. He shivered, heart pounding faintly. The shadows stretched beneath them and bathed where they touched his cheekbones made his skin crawl, spine tense and lungs feeling restricted.

And then he noticed something.

The boy wore the same clothes as him, only a shade darker and almost black in the shadows while his face was still too light to be touched by all the darkness. Something was terribly off…

Something was moving and his insides were twisting. His mind was screaming for him to turn tail, to hide away from the other completely. A primal instinct, the same one that had guided him here, had told him to watch the boy steal the cards, told him to stay. A voice in the back of his head laughed in mockery and he blinked, face to face with glowing red eyes among a pit of black, distorted and nearly moving.

It was brighter around the pupils that spilled and twisted like tendrils of mist, but it was dark at the edges, like the black ringlet he had seen while at the hospital. And the whites were gone, completely stripped away and nonexistent. He had no idea if it was because his eyes had grown dilated like a canine's or if the red had taken place of it.

But they were definitely glowing and he became aware of some kind of pressure in the back of his skull, burning and leaning into him. The more their eyes remained locked, the harder it became for him to actually pay attention. It was growing harsher, pressing harder, and it was building up in weight, moving to his temple and burning its way towards his eyes, ragged and brutal. By the gods, what the fuck was that?

Yugi squeezed his eyes shut and pressed the heel of his right hand into his temple, pushing harder than necessary for a moment. His pulse jumped beneath his palm, soft but too hot for comfort and growing faster as the seconds ticked by. Pain throbbed and radiated, burning with his pulse, coming with the beat of his heart, and then it leveled out again, like a vague flicker of a flame in the back of his mind. He drew his eyes open, startled and about to recoil when he found the boy only inches away from him now. His body locked in place, spine too rigid to allow movement, and his mind swirled with possibilities. Maybe the other boy could…use whatever magic he had and slit his throat with that card. A hand shot out and he almost screamed as it dug into his jeans pocket to deposit the deck while the other's fingers flipped the card nestled between them to show off the Dark Magician.

He blinked, confused and feeling a small bit of dread as he tried to fight off some of the pain starting to build in his heart. His eyes shot to the other's face, a silent plea for information. There was nothing there. Not an ounce of malice or curiosity or resentment or even bitterness made up his eyes. Not a thing showed there. Yugi had never seen someone's face, someone's _eyes_, so blank and lifeless.

The hand holding the card pressed into his chest, against his heart, and he nearly buckled beneath the pain that formed in his chest. His breathing constricted violently as he tried to make his legs move to take him a step back. His eyes zeroed in on his face, drew in the way that those red orbs continued glowing, and then flinched at the pain that wound itself through his chest again.

A tremor racked through his frame, his heart twisting violently, even as he took in their surroundings from beneath his lashes, eyes growing wide and petrified. His spine went rigid. His heart skipped. His lungs contracted and refused to open for another breath.

The landscape had faded away into nothingness. All around them was darkness, twisting and moving, a blackness that was endless like an ocean of ink. The cold pale light from the moon, as strained and weak as it had been, was completely gone. Lightning the shade of blood and blue-violet sparked and danced around them, among splotches of what looked like masses of dark gray clouds and violent streaks of deep purple. His lungs strained and throbbed painfully in his chest with each flash. It was writhing and he could hear dull roars of energy, power, crackles and flares of light just like the passing bursts of red and blue-violet. He breathed out roughly, trying to relieve some of the tension in his throat and failing as the other boy stared at him with that same expressionless gaze. A keen noise like a sharp cackle and flames meeting slammed into the back of his head, the pressure returning.

He drew in a ragged breath, wheezing and hissing against the sudden pain, and then looked at the other boy slowly. His eyes were glowing around the pupils' outer edges but the red was mingling with black now, wisps of bloodied smoke that swirled endlessly and formed a distorted circular shape of the colors like mixed paint. The spiral sent his head hammering harder as he rasped softly. The layer of black over scarlet looked alive and dead all at once, twisting and yet remaining still all at once. The other boy's smirk grew a little wider. He couldn't tell if it was the deep ruby shade that was moving but something was, constantly twisting and screaming beneath his corneas.

The boy backed up a single step, as if satisfied that he now had his attention. Yugi couldn't help but forget some of the pain in his chest and the pressure in the back of his head as he found himself completely focused on this other entity. He backed up one more step and then showed him the card again. The smaller teen was tempted to step forward and open his mouth to speak but stopped immediately. The other boy twisted it around again, not bothering to look over the dark purple-colored magician, and then tore it in half without so much as a blink. He stood, frozen in place, as the other's lips pulled back into a wide vicious smirk akin something in his nightmares.

Yugi stared at the two pieces as they fluttered to the ground, something in his heart breaking and shattering completely. He didn't recognize the noise that left his mouth, maybe a broken sob or a shriek or some kind of mix between them. Either way, it hurt his ears and made his lungs constrict painfully. His body felt weighted, disconnected for a split second except for two things that came to mind. He knew this pain and he recognized the boy in front of him as the threat in this situation.

The one who had torn his Dark Magician card.

The card that meant the most to him…

Yugi lunged and threw him to the ground, the other teen laughing even as he wrapped his hands around his throat. The vibrations beneath his palms made his shoulders shake violently for a split second. Another disconnected noise twisting between a whimper of pain and a snarl of fury came from his mouth. Adrenaline and anger pushed away the pain that had enveloped since the area around him had changed so suddenly under the other boy's instruction. He wasn't sure what the dull throbbing in the back of his mind was, maybe some kind of beat of his heart or something, but it did nothing to stop him from squeezing.

The other boy continued laughing even as his finger clenched tightly. The vibration of his chuckles against his fingers once again sent him through a soft tremor. The laughter came out strangled and ragged, broken around the edges, but it was still there. Yugi squeezed harder, breathing roughly and fighting back tears. His Dark Magician card…

He felt his shoulders shake once more but couldn't find it in himself to focus on that, instead squeezing harder with wild eyes. His vision was growing slightly blurred around the edges, growing dark in the corners, but he couldn't stop laughing. The noise was strained to its very core and his throat hurt with the force of Yugi's grip and the impossibility of drawing in breath, but he still found it hilarious. They stared at one another, red eyes dancing darkly with pure laughter, and Yugi's own growing wide with sudden panic. He released him immediately, practically pushing him impossibly further into the frozen blades of grass around them, and then scrambled back to grab the two pieces of his card. The small teen breathed hard, shaking once, and then realized belatedly that his fears weren't justified. The shadows weren't there anymore to eat them or damage them further or…whatever it was they would have done.

As the blood roared in his ears and his heart shook in his chest, he realized belatedly that the dull booms of energy and crackles had dissipated completely. He had heard the boy's body pressed harder into the grass and yet he still took a moment to recognize that the ground was frosty and cold and hard once more. The two halves were cold and unfamiliar under his fingers and his hands shook as he stared at them, the attack and defense, the drawing itself. Oh _gods_…

He trembled, ignoring the laughter that came with the action, and nearly missed it when the other boy tried to pull his leg out from where he had himself stretched over it. The smaller teen scrambled to get away from him, breathing furiously in ragged little gasps that he couldn't completely wrap his head around. Oh gods…

"Why is it so special to you?"

Red eyes watched him coolly as Yugi contemplated the odds of missing the mockery or amusement in the other boy's voice. His mind coiled and offered him a false emotion that he didn't recognize as he blinked wide eyes. He opened and closed his mouth, drawing them to his chest and feeling a tear leak out.

"My grandpa…This was the first card that I ever got. He gave it to me so I could form my first deck," he mumbled brokenly, blinking at the tears and feeling as disconnected as the torn halves. "He's extremely sick right now and I…He…"

The other boy's voice lifted into more abundant laughter and Yugi curled his lip at the noise of it, unable to stand it anymore. The baritone pitch, deep in his throat and full of mockery, made him spin on him, dropping the jagged pieces. The red eyes were still glowing with absolute amusement even as he punched him hard enough to make his head snap around.

The smaller teen straddled him, grabbing and bunching his shirt up tightly. He twisted his fist and the other teen choked on another chuckle. He couldn't stand that smirk. He couldn't stand that look in his eyes.

Yugi punched him again. He tightened his grip further and pulled him closer. The second punch made him gag. He could _smell _the blood, like burning flesh, spurting and covering his cheek with backlash. Yet somehow the laughter still went on…

He wasn't sure how long he actually kept punching him. All he knew was he stopped only when he was too tired to go on anymore. But he wasn't a fighter in the first place, so he thought it was probably all of ten minutes or far less. Either way the boy was lying curled up on his side now. His hands covered his face, making low noises that sounded like a faucet sputtering water that refused to come through. Yugi didn't look at him as he left him there and headed home again.

* * *

He woke to a sound that he shouldn't have heard. His eyes snapped open in the dark, taking in the unwelcome shape sitting in his chair in front of the desk. The lean shadow across the floor caught his attention more than the person that made it, and for a second he kind of felt as if it were more imposing than its owner. The chill in the air argued that idea sharply. The coils of energy that bit at the back of his mind like a blanket of frost determined immediately that it was a wrong assessment. But the more Yugi stared at the darkness that made up that lanky ridiculously stretched out form across his floor the more he couldn't shake that idea. It was too long, drawn out until it stretched almost to his wall, and that demanded his attention for more than the boy that made it. It was dark to the point that it seemed almost bottomless in depth and hurt his eyes as he tried to even find the carpet fibers that should have been hidden in it. It was so dark. And it was shaped so…oddly.

Yugi stared at the blackness on his floor for a long moment.

Why the hell did a shadow cast yet another shadow?

How was it even possible that it could do so?

Yugi blinked and drew his eyes up along the walls, trying to distract himself momentarily, bracing himself. Finally he looked towards the boy and then scoffed, pulling the sheets up further and closing his eyes once more. It was not worth it. He was exhausted and worn out from having punched him so much. He was still trying to recover some of the energy he had spent giving into that overpowering rage that had come over him. And Yugi was over it all. He did not care to try even so much as looking at the other boy anymore.

The rustle of clothing caught his attention in the back of his mind but he didn't care enough to open his eyes to take in the actions of the other boy. And he had no doubt that the other boy wouldn't have cared for his attention anyways. That much was proven when he spoke, the lilt in his voice coming out quiet and strained but as deep and regal as it always sounded when he spoke.

"Why does his sickness hurt you so much?"

Yugi nearly spat him but instead ignored him and smothered the flame of irritation that flared up at the very thought of the other speaking. No remorse. No regret. It was like the boy had no soul. And now he had the audacity to show up there wanting to make some kind of pathetic attempt at conversation with him.

"Speak to me," he snapped angrily. "Why does his sickness hurt you so much?"

The smaller boy ignored him again. For a split second the room was silent, and then he heard him moving forward. The sound of the carpet fibers being pushed down made alarms go off in his head just before the other grabbed him. He lashed out blindly, hissing and spitting like a startled cat for a split second as the hand roughly shoved him back into the mattress with a firm grip on his shoulder. His eyes singled in on a pair of furious red and he glowered at him angrily, feeling as if someone had just stabbed him in the gut. The taller stared down at him with a gaze that he couldn't read, let alone truly see. Yugi nearly scoffed at him. What had happened to those glowing eyes he had sported so constantly before? Stupid fucker that he was.

"Tell me. Explain to me why it hurts you so much!"

Yugi shoved at him but it was hard to dislodge him when he still had his shoulder pinned like this. The red-eyed teen's lip curled back faintly as he twisted enough to kick the sheets off and press his feet into his stomach, trying to shove him away. He looked so unimpressed with the display that Yugi could feel a small bit of humiliation bubbling up in his stomach. The boy did not budge despite the force he was exerting, merely keeping him pinned down and watching him with a hideously bored expression. Yugi pushed until his spine grew tight with discomfort, aching beneath his skin.

He could feel muscles packed beneath his flesh, hardened and almost as dangerous as his presence altogether. They tightened and coiled and moved beneath the clothing barrier between their skin, almost hard enough for him to mistake as rock or marble. But there was heat there, against his socks and shirt. There was actual body heat. Like there should have always been. Body warmth that he had been lacking before…

"Tell me," he snarled viciously, moving his free hand to dig his fingers into his leg with enough force to bruise. His nails caught in the fabric of his pants with enough of a grip that he nearly screamed in pain. "Explain it to me!"

He tried again to throw him off, to kick him away and struggle out of his grip. But the other boy would have none of it as his grip on his shoulder tightened. Yugi fought back a flinch when his weight distribution changed. The stomach his feet were pressed up against moved forward. His legs bent more fully until it felt that they would buckle with the strain of being pressed against him like this. For a split second he couldn't breathe with the way his knees were shoved violently towards his abdomen. Yugi's leg tingled and stung and he swore he was bleeding but he couldn't feel it and the other teen made no comment on it as he had expected he would have.

"Speak, you little termite," he snarled, peeling his lips back to show off his teeth which glinted even with the lack of light, a force that made itself known without dramatics. "Tell me why it hurts you so much."

He shook his head slowly and the hand on his shoulder moved to grasp harder, attempting to shove him further into the mattress. But he couldn't sink any further and the smaller boy found it almost hilarious just how frustrated the other seemed at the realization.

"Then shall I find him? Suguroku Motou? Shall I smother him where he sleeps? Shall I find your parents, butcher them while they slumber?"

Yugi stiffened and kicked again, this time just hard enough to make the other boy grunt and withdraw a couple of steps away from him. He was pretty sure it was by his own will that he did so because he thought for certain that the other could withstand a few blows if he had actually resolved himself to standing there. But he would never question this. It was blessing enough that he had moved at all.

"Do not threaten my family, you piece of shit," he spat angrily, swallowing hard as the other stared at him coldly. He could see a small glittering touch of ice in his eyes, fierce and dangerous against the darkness. "You don't get the right to say that kind of crap."

"Then who does?" he snarled, bristling as if he were so heavily offended that he couldn't understand the words leaving his mouth for a split second. Yugi saw his eyes flash suddenly, a surge of fury flaring in his gut for a split second. His gaze was completely colorless but the splash of white light was as sharp as a dagger. "If I don't get that right who _does_?"

Yugi blinked in confusion for a split second and then slowly shook his head, the question startling before it gave him a burst of absolute hatred. "No one gets the right to threaten someone else like that," he spat viciously, starting to curl up on his side once more. "And you're lucky I haven't called the police on your stupid ass for breaking into my house _again_."

"Police?" he sneered, laughing as if it were a hilarious notion to even think of them. He took a small half-step forward and Yugi felt his spine tingle with confusion. "You expect that _police _will have the ability to help you where I am concerned? Well, don't you have a _beautiful_ little imagination, boy."

"My _name _is _Yugi_," he snapped. "You've sneered it enough to know it."

He reached behind him to pull the cord on the lamp, watching the other boy's expression now that it was bathed in light that caught his eyes. The other teen blinked a few times, adjusting to the sudden addition where he had been shrouded in moonlight formerly, red eyes contracting where they seemed to have swallowed his irises moments before.

"I do not _care _for your name," he spat, shaking his head in annoyance and baring his teeth with a small glance at the lamp. "I want to know why his illness makes you sad. That is what I wish to know. Tell me this."

"Will you leave?"

"You can't get rid of me that easily."

"No, because apparently—according to _you _at least—we need each other."

"You feel it too. If you didn't, you would have argued before at the hospital before you visited your whore."

"Her name is Serenity. She is Joey's little sister. She is _not _my whore. She is not _a _whore. And she has no bearing on this conversation whatsoever!" he spat, pausing for a moment before shaking his head. "Will you leave if I tell you what you want to know?"

"I do not understand your question…"

Yugi ground his teeth together. "Don't play stupid. Will you leave me alone for tonight if I answer your stupid question?"

The other boy blinked. "Yes."

The smaller teen breathed in loudly, a rough inhale that the other boy narrowed his eyes in response to. Yugi thought he looked faintly frustrated, a small bit of flustered offense crossing near the center of his irises like a bubble of bright scarlet. "All right," he hissed softly, resisting the urge to spit the words at him in pure anger. He shook his head slowly once and then watched him closely, gauging his reaction to his words. "He is family. I know him better than myself. I grew up with him. I have always known him better than my own parents. I have always been with him more than them. I love him more than anyone else in the entire world."

The other boy blinked again in a slow pull of motion and then frowned at the information. His eyebrows drew forward as his red eyes flashed slightly around the pupils. Yugi couldn't tell what emotion brimmed behind the glassy ruby he was staring into. His lids lowered slightly so that his lashes cast shadows in small jagged lines when he bowed his head faintly as if in consideration. His jaw ticked, tightening as his lips twitched the tiniest bit as if the frown were begging to deepen before it relaxed back as it had been before.

Yugi shook his head slowly.

He didn't understand.

He didn't understand at all.

Finally the boy raised his eyes to look at him through his lashes, the questions and confusion and curiosity nearly enough to force the air from his lungs. But there was still no remorse, nothing to say he was apologetic. And that was just enough to keep his head screwed on straight for the moment even if he couldn't wrap his mind around the realization.

Did the boy have no fucking soul?

He nearly laughed at himself as doubt tugged at his insides.

"I answered your question," he finally breathed out, voice coming out in a hollow tone that made the other blink. "Get out."

The other looked at the glass for a long moment before turning back. "Turn off the lights."

"Why?" he snapped, vicious and growing furious with his refusal to move. "Get out."

"It's easier than climbing through the window. Turn off the lights."

Yugi debated literally attempting to shove him out, truly tempted by the idea, but finally reached back and pulled the switch. He watched as the teen's eyes caught bright red, glowing against the gathering darkness as the shadows grew black and almost thick as the fleece blanket on his bed. A dull thrum like a distant roar hit his ears and his eyes widened drastically as it was accompanied by the crackle of lightning before the boy vanished.


	5. Chapter V

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Warning: Cursing should be relatively mild but sometimes grows a little more at times, Season 0 Yami...and he's a little more unhinged than usual, so keep that in mind**.

**Note: There are mentions of blood, some graphic images of death, sensual moments and feelings, touches of violence/abuse**

**Update Schedule: I'm going to try for bi-weekly updates**

**Writing Note: I'm trying a new, more descriptive style for a story I plan to write later so tell me how I did with it?**

**Anyways, the story is a way to help get rid of some writer's block I'm dealing with so it's serving as a style-trial and a way to get back into writing.**

* * *

Chapter V

Yugi felt sick to his stomach as he started towards the hospital. The small teen cast a glance over his shoulder, chewing his cheek and wondering vaguely about the chill against his skin. He did not think the other boy was around, just that the air was colder than usual. His head failed to feel fuzzy or colder than usual, though he had to admit that he had a moment where he had to wonder why he didn't feel that way. Was the boy ignoring him now?

He would never blame him if he was. Then again, he would have liked to have the power to ignore him instead because that would have been great. The boy had not come near him since that moment in his room two days ago. Part of him was glad to be rid of him but the other felt sick with the absence. He hated it but he wanted him back there and there was no way to ignore it.

Yugi could, however, ignore the sensation of sudden fear that crept through him, his entire body telling him to turn back and walk the other way. He was more worried about leading the other boy to his grandpa than he was anything else, though he was reluctant to see the elderly Motou's face when he found that the Dark Magician card was missing. His grandpa always loved to see how his deck grew or diminished, though mostly it stayed with the same cards they had gotten together for his first deck. Yugi kept all of the cards, some of them in the box that had come with the Puzzle and the others in no particular order inside his deck or card sleeves he had in his binder. Some of the cards were promotions that he had gotten at events before Sugoroku had gotten sick and he was reluctant to mess with anything pertaining to his original deck or collector's editions. He had a full binder of cards he would never play but that his grandpa had gotten with him that he had put in the sleeves and kept there under his bed.

The Dark Magician had been the first card he had ever gotten and his strongest aside from Summoned Skull, but the demon hardly held as much sentimental value. He had been eight when he was given the card and it had become his trump card, something that he had never lost a duel with. Summoned Skull had come in a booster pack with several other cards that he loved but could never replace the Spellcaster. His grandpa always loved to see it, as if it was some kind of physical manifestation of their family bond, and Yugi was honestly struggling with the idea that he had even allowed the other to get his hands on it. Of course he had had no reason to suspect he would tear it to pieces like that, but he couldn't understand how he had missed the intent in his eyes before it had happened.

The small teen glanced around once more, nervous as he searched for the red-eyed boy, sure he would come forth just because he could. But he couldn't feel him—there was nothing to say he was even nearby. He had said he could hear his thoughts, however, so he honestly failed to understand why he wasn't appearing just to sneer and annoy him like the inconvenience he seemed so keen on becoming. It seemed like a thing the stupid bastard would do as far as Yugi was concerned. Why wouldn't he take up the chance to do that?

He nearly scoffed at himself, glowering before making his way into the building. He shook it off immediately when the young intern looked up and gave him a small smile, saying, "He's on the second floor, room eighty-six" before he could even ask.

"Thank you." He honestly had the impulse to bow to her but realized how stupid an idea that was. They were pretty familiar with each other and she didn't even have to wait for him to say something to know where he was headed or who he had come to see. She nodded at him absentmindedly and Yugi didn't bother to speak again as he wandered for the elevator.

Half of him still hesitated and for a moment he wondered if he could still make it out of the hospital without the boy getting the room number where his grandpa was resting. His stomach twisted violently; what other tricks did the boy know? Was it possible that he could see what he saw, hear what he did? He could disappear and reappear at will, could drag him into that…darkness, and Yugi had no doubt he knew so much more than he had shown him.

What if this was all just some kind of exercise for the other boy? What if he was only sitting back because he needed him to lead him to his grandpa unintentionally? What if all it took was for him to enter that room and the other would be there immediately? He didn't know the boy well enough to assume that he wouldn't plant such a trap. It seemed effortless enough.

But he still couldn't feel him and if he couldn't feel him, then the small teen honestly doubted that he would come. It felt more like the other would enjoy toying with him. He thought he would like to have allowed him to feel him in his mind, having his muscles tense and ready for his arrival. Yugi would have tried fighting him tooth and nail and the other boy knew that after what had happened at the park. There was no question of whether he would do so or not. And he thought maybe the boy was either holding back because of it or he was waiting to spring when he wasn't around. Yugi shivered at the idea; his grandpa was sick but not to the point that it weakened him too horribly. He probably could have managed to hold him off on his own if he was given the chance, considering that he had once said he had played and challenged others to Shadow Games. But what was the consequence of a Shadow Game if he or the boy lost? He hated to admit it, but he couldn't stand the idea that the other boy might get hurt from losing, as the punishments were always described as brutal and horrific.

He stopped outside the door, happy that his bed faced the other wall and he wasn't in his sights just yet. He breathed in once, sighing softly before shaking his head and fighting off a small tremble. His fingers shook gently as he glanced back at the elevator he had just used so mindlessly. He could use it to get back down there, tell the receptionist that he was still asleep and he didn't want to wake him if she asked, and _flee_.

Yugi rolled his eyes towards the ceiling, taking in the tiles as if they were the single most important and powerful things he had ever seen in his life. The familiar sight of white paint and fluorescent lights calmed him enough to lessen the shake of his fingers. But he couldn't shake the urge to flee and for a moment he thought maybe the boy had already found his way into the hospital, had attacked him and then run. He had threatened his life, his parents' as well, and it wouldn't have surprised him in the least if he had known all along where he was.

Maybe his desire to flee was planted there because he would not be able to face the carnage he knew awaited him if the other had visited his grandpa. He swallowed hard, trying to wrap his mind around the idea, and felt a flicker of pure anger warm his stomach, hatred burning in his blood. The bastard had better not have come here.

_Do you hear me_? Yugi spat mentally, fighting off another shiver and feeling sick when something like a wall of ice hit the back of his mind. Something stirred, dark and wispy, like fire smoke on a cold night, and his entire body froze in place, horrified for a moment. He could feel him. The other boy was listening, responding, allowing him to speak. He swallowed hard, trembling as the bravery left him immediately. He couldn't breathe for a split second, terrified, and he could hear laughter in place of his heartbeat, dark and melodious in his eardrums. The sound was just enough to spur him back into a small bit of anger that his thoughts refused to contain, his mental voice shaky and weak in comparison to its former charge. _Stay away from him_.

The wall of ice seemed to recede for a split second and then a sharp stab of pain entered his head, making him flinch and recoil, pressing himself against the wall and grabbing his temple. His blood pulsed in a steady throb that made his stomach twist and his heart leaped into his throat immediately, too harsh for him to breathe for a split second. Yugi clenched his jaw as spikes of ice stabbed at his mind, the force nearly knocking him to his knees.

_Stay away from him_, he repeated, a little firmer than before and amazed at how strong the message came out. The pain didn't falter for a second but he got the idea that the other was paying attention and trying to test him. The thought almost made him laugh, surprised that his punching him hadn't given him that idea in the first place. But then it made sense all the same. He probably didn't even believe that he meant it when he told him to stay away. Most likely he wasn't even lashing out to hurt him but to see if he would stand his ground when he fought back, even if it was wordlessly. _Stay away from him, stay away from my parents, stay away from m—_

He recoiled, startled out of his mind when the light over his head flashed and then fell straight down in front of him. Sparks and wires, flaring and twisting as if possessed, lit the spot at his feet and he blinked wide eyes. The ice in his head, the stabs of pain, lessened and disappeared after a moment, as if startled by what he was seeing.

But Yugi had a feeling that perhaps the boy had managed to make this happen. He had no idea how, considering he couldn't feel him anymore and he could tell that he wasn't nearby, but it still burned in the center of his mind. The boy had managed to make the lights stop for that split second and the one in front of him come crashing down. He was unsure of whether it was in threat or just to keep him on his toes or what. It seemed like some kind of stupid test if he twisted his thoughts hard enough. Maybe the boy was testing to see if he would flee when the light fell or maybe he was just trying to make him leave him alone.

Yugi suddenly felt a small wave of shame and confusion sweep through him even as the nurses hurried over and a security guard came to check on him. What had the boy been doing before he had interrupted? Perhaps he had been comfortable, maybe even asleep. And now, perhaps Yugi had just rattled the cage of an unpredictable animal that could damn well tear him open if he wasn't careful. He swallowed hard, pushing back some of the daze that clouded his mind.

Oh gods, what if he had just drawn the other boy back to him by trying to keep him away?

But then, how the hell had he even managed to contact him so easily?

The boy had said that he could hear his thoughts from anywhere in Japan, but Yugi hardly thought that applied the same way for him. He had never heard his voice in his mind, or felt his emotions unless they were projected to him purposefully. He had to be close for it to happen and yet, somehow Yugi had just managed to brush against his mind so easily. Maybe his mind stretched further than the boy's? Or was that even possible? He doubted it could be but that seemed like the only way he could possibly explain how this could have happened.

The boy was too complicated a problem for him to focus on right now. He went on nodding at the nurses and guard, smiling and forcing his voice out to reassure them he was okay, that nothing had happened. The wires and the broken glass, the metal, all looked suddenly pathetic and foreign. For a split second, he almost thought they were alien, as if they had just come into existence, and he could hardly understand the concept as it was. Those same wires had been alive with electricity moments before, twisting and giving off violent sparks from sudden disconnection, and they had been flailing in the air as if trying to reach out and attack him. The glass at his feet looked tiny and glittered with the beams of fluorescent light around them, but it glinted where his shadow was cast across it and for a moment he fancied he saw a tendril of darkness coiling around a couple of shards. He imagined it like a small animal, creeping through rubbish and waste and trying not to be seen, but he knew somewhere in the back of his mind that it wasn't there in the first place. His mind had conjured it up as if it would help him to understand what was going on with the other boy and himself.

Maybe he just wanted to be able to believe the other was there somewhere, watching him, and that was why it had been so easy. But he had no idea if that was true or not, and his stomach twisted with the idea.

"Yugi?"

He swallowed back a silent biting response towards himself for wasting time and then navigated his way around the collapsed light to enter the room. He glanced back, staring at the shining copper that glittered in his eyes, and then turned away again, smiling widely with a genuine happiness that he felt as if he hadn't known for days.

"Grandpa," he murmured, hurrying to hug him and wrinkling his nose at the scent that greeted him when they embraced. If anyone were to ask him how his grandpa smelled, he would say it was most prominently the softened scent of something akin tobacco, of mint almost as sharp as freshly opened toothpaste, cinnamon and sunlight. His years in Egypt had given him a rather distinctive scent, something that no amount of shampoo or body wash had managed to strip away. It was almost as if, somehow, his travels had been locked into his body more than just memory and it was one of the things that Yugi had always loved when he was younger. Now it occasionally worried him as his health wasn't the best but it wasn't the worst either and yet Sugoroku refused to calm down, always ready for an adventure no matter what the doctors told him.

"It's been a little while," he admonished softly, patting his shoulder as he pulled away and grabbed a stool from where it rested against the wall. The small teen took a seat, careful not to give him any chance to see how shaken he actually was. He still couldn't wrap his head around the boy, how he had connected with his mind like he had. The idea made his stomach clench as he looked over his shoulder momentarily towards the light and the others gathered around it.

"I know," he murmured, flashing him a slightly embarrassed smile, feeling almost innocently chided by the statement. He looked down for a split second, rearranging his legs to press the soles of his shoes into the bar beneath his knees. "School's just been a little harder. Finals are coming up in a week, you know. I've been studying so I can pass with better grades than last time."

He pursed his lips and looked up at the ceiling with a dry expression when his grandpa chuckled at his statement. He shot him a small disdainful look from the corner of his eye and found himself smiling, momentary annoyance immediately gone. His mom could light a fire under his skin and leave him angry and feeling miserably defeated for days when she wanted. All it took was one word, one look. But his grandpa had only ever admonished and then taught him another way. When he flunked math, he always went to him for help and sometimes, though she wasn't around enough to merit it, he thought that maybe his mother was jealous of their relationship.

Sometime he thought that she only got so upset with him because of how estranged they seemed to be at times. She wasn't home much and his grandpa—her father—was his most constant guardian. She was almost always off with his father overseas in the states on business and visits with both of them were so rare that he could count them on one hand. Ever since his dad had gotten promoted when Yugi had turned seven, he and his mom had rarely been around. He could count the times that his mother had visited him alone on both hands but he couldn't count the many times she had admonished him—over the phone, face to face, over online chats and video.

Unless it was completely serious—such as when his grandpa had told him never to take the Puzzle lightly or blow off his grades or allow his future to crumble before him—he would make it into something of a joke with just enough of a note for him to take the hint. He obviously wanted him to visit more often now and Yugi knew that—he had planned to in all actuality—but he did have finals coming up, studying to catch up on, and that boy was still somewhere, waiting, haunting him like a specter. Between the death threat to his grandfather and his parents and knowing that the boy seemed to want to kill him even if he hadn't yet, he was not so eager to try for more frequent visits. He would never forgive himself if the boy got his hands on his grandpa, on his family. He would rather be stabbed than have something happen—especially if it came unwittingly by his own hand.

"How _are _your grades?"

Yugi met the gaze of deep plum purple eyes, fighting back a hard swallow as he tried to stop his mind from falling back into circulating around the other boy. He pushed the thought away, hoping vaguely as he stared at the vibrant spark of life and laughter in his grandfather's eyes that the elder could hold his own. He knew how to challenge someone to a Shadow Game, knew of dark magic that he had used in Egypt multiple times. He had always told him about them after he had gotten the Puzzle. The many times he had failed to solve it, Sugoroku had gone to cheer him up with a story about his adventures. When he was younger, he had thought—as many kids would have—that his grandfather was invincible. It was only around the time that he was twelve that it had begun to connect in his mind that just because Sugoroku had _done _all those things did not mean he still should. It did not mean he was invincible. It did not mean that the Shadow Games had not worn down on him as well as the loser of the trial.

But, perhaps that liveliness in his eyes and his knowledge of magic could keep him safe if the bastard ever did come after him. But maybe it couldn't. And maybe he was just being foolish and naïve, far too hopeful for his own good, in believing that.

"They're still pretty high. So, I mean, if I don't do so well on the midterms, I'll be okay. Enough of a cushion just in case, although I do plan to pass each of them," he assured quickly when his grandfather raised a brow; appeased, the elderly Motou nodded in approval and folded his hands on the sheets above his stomach.

"And Joey?"

Yugi's lips twitched into a wide grin. "Oh he has no hope," he said immediately, shaking his head and putting on a playfully ashamed face. "He's going to fail really badly."

"Smartass," his grandpa snickered, snorting and rolling his eyes as Yugi watched him and listened to the nurses out in the hallway explaining that the light had just collapsed out of nowhere. His grandpa had always had an interest in Joey, mostly because of how they had become friends and just how badly he played Duel Monsters. Sugoroku had taken him under his wing and taught him endlessly and now the blond could hold his own against Yugi for the most part when he gave him more of a headway, but he failed utterly when it came to his grades. The blond barely managed to scrounge enough to pass at the end of each semester, something that always made the group snicker and tease him, but Yugi had always taken to tutoring him when he had free time.

And right now, he had next to zero because of the other boy, his grandpa's placement in the hospital and his familiar need to man the game shop in his absence. He still had mass amounts of studying to go through and none of that was made easier with the weight of everything that was going on. He had at least gotten chemistry down. Next he had to pay attention to history and then tackle math.

He guessed it was just a good thing that he still had a month before any of his midterms actually would happen. The missed opportunities could hopefully be recovered in the meantime.

"I should say I am but I'm not surprised at all," Sugoroku sighed, shaking his head and raising a brow at the way Yugi grinned like the Cheshire cat. "Don't you smile like that, Yugi. You aren't exactly the best with your studies either."

The teen stuck his tongue out, wrinkling his nose indignantly. "No bubble bursting for you," he said immediately, crossing his arms and pressing more of his weight into his shoes where they rested against the stool. It brought a distorted sensation of being perfectly balanced and yet ready to topple over at any moment as well and he loved it to no end. "It might be bad for your health."

"You spend too much time with Joey thinking you can talk to me like that," the elder Motou teased, glancing into the hallway behind Yugi and frowning slightly. The light had been moved away but the janitor was sweeping up the glass and a soft sense of foreboding was centering itself in his stomach. He thought he recognized the dangerous power of Shadow Magic somewhere in the air and if he really stared, he imagined he could see tendrils of darkness and sparks of distorted light. He thought he could see small sparks of lightning, of deep vibrant colors that hurt his eyes and gave off energy that made his chest feel tight. He watched the janitor for a moment, allowing Yugi to catch his line of sight and look back with him, the small teen's face twisting in confusion and momentary discomfort. Sugoroku allowed his eyes to shoot towards Yugi for a moment, studying him, and then finally turned away with a small frown as he looked down at the Puzzle hanging around Yugi's neck.

A heavy weight settled inside of his stomach as he sighed softly and Yugi glanced at him in confusion. The noise made the small teen's insides twist with confusion; was he upset or something? He didn't know what he had done but his grandpa was looking at him with an expression he couldn't read and the only time he had seen that was when he was upset with him.

"Grandpa?" he muttered, shifting to balance himself more firmly on the stool. He hunched forward like a cat about to spring, eyes wide as he tried to get a hint of what was going on behind the older Motou's gaze. He blinked slowly, drawing his bottom lip between his teeth and swallowing hard. The tension in his shoulders was growing sharper and nearly unbearable, wearing on him as he prepared himself for some kind of bad news. His gut churned as he wondered if his grandfather would be announcing something he couldn't bear to hear.

He didn't think he could take anymore of that right now.

Not with the boy there, not when he could have just summoned his ire by messing with him in the first place.

"When did you finish the Puzzle?"

Yugi stopped short, staring at him and feeling bile burn a path up the back of his throat in discomfort and foreboding. Oh gods, did his grandpa not remember when he had shown him the Puzzle weeks ago when he had first managed to put it together? He had been home that day, as Yugi had been hoping for that entire week, dead set on getting the chance to show him immediately when he put it together. His grandpa had congratulated him but now that he thought back to it, he had not looked entirely happy. There had been copious amounts of pride, but there had been a sadness and a stark discomfort that had shown in those familiar plum purple eyes as well.

Yugi reached down to run a finger over the eye in the center, swallowing hard and narrowing his eyes faintly. "Two weeks ago—almost," he stated calmly, slowly, working up some kind of levelness that wasn't essentially there moments before. His grandpa's guard was coming up and he could see it behind in his eyes, almost like a wall of ice being resurrected. "You were home that day, remember? I finished putting it together and showed it to you…"

What if his grandpa was forgetting things? Maybe he was becoming much sicker than the doctors were telling them. If he was losing his memory, it could possibly explain the look on his face now, the look on his face when he had finished putting the Puzzle together that day.

"Right," he muttered, voice absent as he looked at the artifact, and Yugi felt a chill in his stomach when he realized he had not forgotten at all. He was most likely trying to make a timeframe. The small teen suddenly wondered if perhaps the heart attack that had happened that day had been because of the Puzzle. Perhaps instead of killing him quickly as it had done to those who had gone on the dig, it meant to kill him slowly. Perhaps it meant to destroy him from the inside out, in which his organs would fail slowly and painfully as the years passed.

Yugi didn't know whether to think it a blessing that the possible infliction that the Puzzle could have placed was so slow in claiming his grandpa or if he should think it a curse for drawing it out so much. He scraped his nail over the eye, the groove of raised metal feeling icy and unfamiliar. He normally stroked at the symbol when he was nervous and the Puzzle was around his neck. It was a nervous habit that was normally quelled almost immediately just by contact with the metal. But now it felt dark and unbelievably heavy against him, weighing down on his throat and threatening to squeeze it shut if he wasn't careful.

"Have you noticed anything different about yourself?" Sugoroku asked after a moment, sounding almost reluctant to even voice the question. Yugi took a long minute to really study him, to take in the laugh lines at the edges of his mouth that suddenly seemed full of disapproval, at the eyes that had narrowed and darkened, at the way his face looked a little paler than usual. When he looked up from the artifact and their eyes locked, Yugi's entire body went completely still with confusion and tension.

"With me?" he finally muttered, sure he was misreading the look in his grandpa's eyes. "Not exactly."

The elder Motou nodded and his face brightened so suddenly that Yugi almost thought he had been seeing things moments before. It was almost akin the boy—it was gone before he could even manage a blink. There and then gone again.

"All right then." He blinked, bewildered and growing more or less lightheaded with the sensation; the Puzzle suddenly felt weightless again and the metal had grown warm and familiar once more. "So, show me your deck. Have you added to it?"

Yugi blinked and narrowed his eyes slowly. "No, not really. I haven't really done much with buying cards," he finally murmured quietly, reaching into his pocket and drawing the deck from where it rested against his thigh. He passed the cards over to him, already dreading the moment he rifled through them. He had his lie in place but he had no idea if he could say it without drawing on Sugoroku's suspicions. It was likely that it would happen regardless, but he had to at least try. He wasn't about to tell him about this boy that had come barging into his life like this. Not when he had difficulty even really wrapping his head around that concept in the first place.

"That's a shame."

He stopped and Yugi reached up to scratch his temple, feeling a small bit of self-conscious disgust creep through him. The small teen watched as his grandpa raised a puzzled frown in his direction, his gray eyebrows furrowing slightly.

"I'm letting Joey borrow him for a duel this weekend," he stated, surprised by how steady his voice came out. For a moment he thought he could feel ice brushing against him and smell a moonlit forest, the scent making his head grow a little light once more. If he tried, he thought he could feel something in his mind, cold and lapping at his thoughts, but it was impossible to focus on and he was forced to leave it behind again as soon as he attempted acknowledging it. Yet some kind of inward strength was finding its way into his words, soothing the ache that came with the thought of lying to his grandpa, with the image of the torn card that burned in his mind. "He's practicing—trying to get some cards to help power him up when he draws him, you know?"

Sugoroku nodded but the left side of his mouth twitched downwards and Yugi felt his stomach sink with guilt. Could he tell he was lying? Was he so terribly transparent?

"Okay, well tell him not to lose it or damage it in any way."

The small teen relaxed slightly though the guilt still tore at his insides. "Well duh," he teased, smiling in amusement as his grandpa shuffled through his deck again. He drew in a tight breath, slowing it so that the other wouldn't hear him, and then froze, blinking in confusion. He could smell the other boy. It wasn't his imagination that he had scented a forest drenched in moonlight like that.

_Are you here_?

He blinked, forgetting his anger from before, drawn in by the scent and the strange familiarity that came with it already. For a moment he forgot even the fact that he had told him to stay away from his family, suddenly feeling incredibly small and weak, lost and pathetic. He didn't know if he had always felt like that and the boy's presence merely exposed it or if maybe he was just looking for some kind of lead now that everything seemed off center.

Ice spiked in the back of his mind, like a brittle wall, and he fought back a wince as his grandpa continued looking over his deck. A stab came in his temple and then faded immediately, the scent of ice and moonlight and impenetrable darkness gone with it. He almost spoke out loud when he felt the need to call out for him but realized immediately that it was better he didn't back down from his statement. The boy did need to stay away.

And maybe in that moment he had forgotten it, but now the anger was there again, as if the other had held it at bay when he had been there. Or maybe Yugi had just been so lost that he had let it slip away in that moment. Either way, he knew he couldn't let the bastard get close enough to hurt someone—especially if he was truly reliant upon him like he claimed, like it felt.

Yugi narrowed his eyes, licking his lips and turning his head away when Sugoroku focused his attention towards him. Maybe if he kept it up and fought him, the other would go away.

Maybe it would sever whatever connection that they had, because he didn't want this.

He didn't want to have to worry constantly about his friends and family being found dead because he had angered his look-alike into acting on his murderous fantasies.

He didn't think he could live with that.

* * *

His head was ringing from where the little bastard had prodded at his mind. He was tired and sore, his muscles straining under his skin as he wandered along the spot where land met sea. Foam hit the sand and drew it back into its depth, depositing a small shell that he barely cared to glance at. The sun hit his skin with a warmth that made him feel sticky beneath his chin, his throat disgustingly wet and his clothes clinging to his flesh. He wasn't even slightly surprised to find that the sun itself was the only thing that had managed to draw such a reaction from his body. His body temperature had not risen even slightly, still cold to the touch if anyone had been able to brush their fingers against his skin. His nails felt oddly weighted at the tips of his fingers and when he looked at them, he thought he could see small sparks of black, like an electrical lashing of magic that failed to crackle as the rest would have.

He narrowed dark red eyes and flicked his fingers, looking them over and staring at the white ends. He thought conveniently of just how much damage he could do with just that simple part of his body. This form barely gave for much power or potential, but his magic made up for that, gave him more strength than this pathetic body had to offer. Regardless he knew his nails and definitely his teeth could tear into flesh as violently as some kind of animal's natural defenses. His teeth had to be as sharp as one of those tamed dog's and his jaw power he knew was more powerful than the boy who was quickly becoming more of a bane of his existence than he already was.

He tilted his head as a small child ran with her pet only a few feet away. The animal stopped running, tripping over its own paws in its sudden terror. The boy smirked widely, watching with glinting red eyes as the girl looked up and the dog scrambled to its feet. It was trembling, glossy black and brown and white coat covered in sand and seeming to shed inexplicably as its body ran through a tremor. He waited for that noise they produced, that little boom of a sound that came after the growling that built in its chest. But the animal merely shook like a leaf, legs threatening to collapse beneath it once more as terror gripped it more firmly.

The girl was staring at him even as his lips pulled back completely to show his teeth in an unnatural curve of his lips. The dog let out a bay of a noise, almost akin a human yell for the child to stay back, but of course she didn't understand. He waited for her to heed the animal's distress, the way that it grabbed at her clothing and tried to pull her away even as it trembled fearfully. The sand shifted noisily in his ears, the boy narrowing his eyes at the sound as the grains moved around the hard pads. The animal's weight shifted, trying to pull the girl away, but as he watched, he realized slowly but surely that she was staring straight at him.

He tilted his head, narrowing his eyes and snarling loudly. The dog trembled, barked in alarm, turned tail and fled a few paces before it turned back slowly to retrieve the girl again. Its natural instinct said to flee from the greater predator's reach but loyalty made it turn to circle and try to rally itself for a possible fight. He almost snapped at the dog to go, almost tempted to flex his power and throw the little creature in warning, a gentle tap of strength, but instead found himself fixated with the girl as she mimicked him. The growl was sloppy and sounded almost as if she were choking on a piece of food, but the other still paused to consider it.

The dog whimpered loudly, circling around the girl and trying to pull her sleeve once more. The purple sheer material tore and red eyes centered in on the shredded ends of the threads, tilting his head curiously now instead of in threat. He lowered his gaze towards the animal, curious for a moment as to whether the dog would have been doing the same if it had not been mindlessly domesticated. If it was still as wild as some of the animals he knew existed through the other's mind, would it have been nearly as keen on the idea of protecting her?

Her parents offered the creature shelter and food, a warm place to sleep at night. They offered it things that it most likely would never be able to find on its own. And so it protected the humans, tame and stupid for their own needs.

He bristled, furious at the idea, and snarled loudly. His teeth clicked loudly and the girl flinched at the noise, the dog taking off in the other direction with its tail tucked between its legs, surrendering immediately. He snarled low in his throat, baring his teeth as his lips curled back furiously, and watched it once more brave its own fear to return to the girl's side.

The animal was bound to her. By some laws of genetic coding and perhaps some ounce of will that he _hated_. It still turned to face him, now moving to get between them and try to herd her back with its flanks pressed against her legs, backing up into her limbs. She toppled over pitifully and for a moment he thought of just how easily it would be to do to her what he was finding it hard to do with the boy.

He pictured blood, copious amounts of the red liquid, and the image was enough to make him take a step forward. The animal bayed loudly, catching his attention, and he narrowed his eyes in pure hatred once more. Its voice lifted again, almost like a human yell, and though it shook, it stood there before him, in between him and the girl. It bared its teeth when he shifted his weight forward, shaking like a leaf even as it tried to show him some kind of threat in order to ward him off. In an easy thought, he could throw the little creature, tear it to pieces if he really put it to mind, but instead he found himself staring at it.

It was so pathetically loyal, mindless to all but the thought of protecting the girl to the point that it utterly defied logic. It was like its life suddenly depended on it getting her away or as if she were some kind of treasure it had to protect. It was facing up to a creature it didn't recognize but _knew _instinctively was far more powerful, and yet it stayed there.

Was that what they did with animals?

Did they just capture them and try to make them into mindless slaves for their own protection?

He thought it hilarious that humans even had that little insight into power in the first place. Considering how weak and stupid they were themselves, it was a testament to just how much the animals must have lost themselves somewhere along the way.

He entertained the thought of lashing out, of throwing the animal aside, of ripping the girl apart, but knew somewhere in the back of his mind that there was no justification. He may not have had to abide by the laws of humans, but he was still bound to a set older than their creation. He wondered if a Shadow Game could be issued—whether to her or her parents he cared not—but knew he would have to see an act before he could do so. With the bastard that had attacked Yugi, he had witnessed the brute force used. Now he had nothing to provoke the magic in his being, and the thought frustrated him.

He looked up slowly, scanning the sands for the man and woman he knew were the brat's parents, but found absolutely nothing. There were no others around that were paying attention to them. No one came running to gather her up and check to make sure she was not hurt. No one came to see what the dog was mindlessly protecting her from. He tilted his head slightly, wondering vaguely if she had gotten lost and wandered off on her own, but cared nothing for further exploration of the thought. With a disdainful glance at her and a snarl at the dog that sent it backing into her and tripping over her fallen form, he turned on his heel and started in the opposite direction.

"You have weird eyes."

He stopped short, blinking as the words connected in his head. Her speech was sloppy, far too juvenile and slurred, but there was something in it that made him bristle. The innocent ring of the words made him spin around, spitting, "What was that, little bitch?"

The dog howled loudly, terrified and bristling as it tried to keep him at bay. For a moment he was tempted to swat it aside, physically now, because that way the blow would be far more satisfying, but he had no qualms with the animal. Aside from irritating his ears with its senseless noise and flashing its teeth occasionally, it did nothing to him and so he hardly cared for it. Besides, perhaps if it weren't a slave to humans then it wouldn't be making such chatter at him. He looked at it curiously for a moment, thinking about how easily he could strip its skin from its muscle, but stopped short again, glancing briefly at the sky. A few stray clouds had moved to block out the sun and now he could feel a tiny bit of relief from its heat, though the smell of salt stung his nose and he could feel the way his pupils were dilated. Somewhere between the water's harsh glare of reflection and the sand's brutal shining of light, he found his eyes changing to accommodate him.

As always, he could feel it though he didn't bother to do it consciously. His pupils were stretching out, drawing in some of the light he had been formerly ignoring only moments before. The vantablack color spread until it wrapped around his irises, offering a shield of dark transparent gray and then swept through the whites of his eyes using the veins to even itself out into a murky silver-gray. He knew from his own glance towards a woman wearing sunglasses that the new coating to his gaze was a way of cutting off the glare of the sunlight. He tilted his head, blinking slowly as his eyes fell on the water for a second before turning away again.

A small bit of satisfaction pooled in his insides, making him purr as he glanced towards the sun where it was losing shelter from the cloud as it drifted past. His lips twitched into a small smirk as he looked up at it; with the automatic reaction of his magic creating the barrier it was easy to just glance at it and not feel the need to even blink or squint in the slightest. But the reaction had been almost automatic now that he wasn't concentrated on the tickling sensation that it had left in the back of his mind and coiling in his blood.

His mind was accustomed to the darkness, built for it, wielded it, and the sudden transition to this pathetic place made his blood boil in his veins. This form and its so very many weaknesses infuriated him. The light was always sensitive where it shouldn't have been, the heat was new and foreign and the stickiness of sweat was disgusting. The fact that his clothing clung to his skin made him want to vomit. How could a human deal with such disgusting circumstances?

And what was this slight tingle in his skin? It burned and itched but he knew it was an illusion built by this body. His skin would not take on the reddish glint that the little girl's was gaining rapidly. His body lacked the body temperature to gain the burn and the icy sensation that Yugi seemed to revel in would keep his skin free of such an annoyance. His eyes shot towards the sun again and finally he lowered his gaze to the dog once more. The animal was in a frenzy now that his eyes had changed, foaming at the mouth and anxious, drool dripping in long strands that glistened like the water beside them. His lips twitched and he stepped forward, baring his teeth and snarling softly.

The dog tripped over itself with a loud yelp but remained awkwardly caught in the threads of the little girl's sundress. The girl cried out softly in pain but she stayed silent afterwards, refusing to speak again, and the boy smirked at the thought of inflicting that much fear. His attention peaked as the dress's material tore and the girl made a sobbing noise that made absolute hatred course through him before he locked eyes with her oh-so-faithful little hound.

Their eyes caught, he could finally see just how much he had changed in the creature's wide dark gaze. His eyes had turned from red to a deep bluish shade reminiscent of Yugi's, a violet sheen touching the edges. The red burned at the very edges of his blurred irises and he thought it looked almost like the night vision that some animals were said to possess. His pupils were barely even dots of black, pinpricks that stretched at the edges, and the glow of red was easily outdone by the shimmering gleam of blue-violet. His lashes did nothing to obscure the way they did so and he smirked in amusement as he finally turned away from the canine.

If this was his body's basic automatic reaction to direct sunlight that would have otherwise harmed his vision, he wondered what it looked like when he was with Yugi at night. He wondered if the glow was nearly as deep and shaded, almost cloudy, or if it took on a more direct and powerful gleam. If it was more noticeable in the dark, he wouldn't have been surprised. He could see in the dark as if it were daylight and that was with absolutely no use of magic. He was born of the darkness and he had nurtured inside of it and there was no reason for him to care for lack of lighting. Besides, what was lighting but an inconvenience he had no name for? It was new and startling to him, violent and hot where he had grown in a coldness that had been his home since his consciousness had reawakened.

He curled his lip back, snarling at the dog as it bayed at him, and then turned on his heel, glancing at the sky slowly and narrowing his eyes. The clouds were expanding, growing in masses that had not been there moments before. The sky darkened a shade, taking on a grayish tint that pronounced the coming rain, and he purred as the first drop hit his skin.

* * *

Yugi flinched under the enormous drops that hit his face and soaked his clothing. The droplets were as large as hailstones and they hit just as hard as they would had they been frozen in the air. But today was one of those strange deceptively warm winter days because of the lack of clouds—or at least it had been moments before when he had stepped outside of the hospital. It had changed in the blink of an eye, without a single warning, and the small teen was unsure of whether it was just a random batch of weather or something else. He could feel the other boy somewhere in the back of his mind, a wisp of cool air that had settled like a mass of cotton in the back of his skull, but nothing else.

The air whipped and the bite of winter made him tremble, his teeth clicking for a split second before he ground the enamel together and shook his head slightly. He glanced around slowly, blinking against a particularly harsh drop of water that hit him across the face. He almost thought it held enough of a sting to be considered a smack across the face but beyond that it seemed pretty normal. He was half expecting it to freeze suddenly when he wasn't looking and for it to hit him hard enough to stun him.

But with the mist that seemed to be coming up from the asphalt he could tell there was no way the warmer temperature would allow it despite the wind and undertone of chill. He did wonder when the snow would start up, however, and his stomach twisted as he looked up at the gray clouds overhead. They looked rather solid, as if no wind would be able to break them at any rate, and the storm seemed like it would be steady for a little while. He shrugged the idea off, moving to touch the Puzzle lazily, and continued towards the house. A small bit of satisfaction lingered inside of him at the thought of having been able to reach out to the other in the first place, something that he had formerly thought was impossible.

He tilted his head as he glanced at the sky and then over his shoulder. Was he there? He thought he could feel him there now. But when he looked around a second time there was nothing and he thought if he was there, he would hardly hide himself. He thought, actually, that the boy would take on the opposite idea, and show himself off as a threat that Yugi just wouldn't be able to shake.

But the boy was nowhere around when he looked and he dismissed the sensation of feeling him there as just a bit of chill from the air around him. The sudden rain shower probably helped with that sensation.

A drop hit him on the nose and he wiped it away, freezing in place when he thought he saw something moving off in the corner of his eye. He turned his head, eyes wide, and then frowned, flustered at the sensation of being so paranoid and gullible. He wiped at his eyelashes, trying to clear a bit of his sight, and stopped short again.

He turned around slowly, jumping a mile and hissing under his breath with annoyance. His shadow was stretched out across the ground behind him, a looming shape that seemed far more prominent against the asphalt than it should have been. He tilted his head, staring at it for a long minute, and then finally felt something connect in his head. The boy was there, somewhere, nearby, extremely close, almost breathing down his neck with the proximity, but he was invisible.

Yugi blinked slowly, unnerved by the thought; why would he be invisible now when he should have been making a point of fucking with him?

No, maybe he wasn't invisible.

Maybe Yugi was just looking far too hard for him.

The thought drove him insane as he unlocked the door and slipped inside, knocking his shoes off and moving to strip himself of his uniform jacket. He moved for the staircase, opening the first door and pausing with a backwards glance. His eyes fell slowly on his reflection in the glass of the window, blinking slowly as he took in the image, and then pursed his lips unhappily.

He turned to continue upstairs and halfway to his room he realized exactly where the boy was.

His eyes flickered towards his shadow on the floor, staring at it and trying to judge just how likely his train of thought was. But then, the boy was technically a shadow _made _of shadows, so wouldn't it have made sense for him to pretend to be his? Yugi nearly laughed at himself, wondering for a split second if maybe it would feel solid if he reached out, but then pulled away quickly from that idea.

He didn't think the other would like the idea of his fingers somewhere against his skin if he reached out to try touching the dark shape on the wall. And he was pretty sure that it wouldn't be as he was expected. He was relatively sure he would end up simply touching the red-violet plaster of the wall.

The thought made him grimace, a pathetic sense of loneliness sweeping through him. He was all alone in the house, unless he tried to coax the bastard out of a hiding place he wasn't even sure existed. His grandpa was still in the hospital and would be for a while longer, as the doctors thought that he should take a little time to recover though he was still in the dark about what it was he had to come back from now.

Sugoroku had ended up in the hospital only hours before Yugi had gotten home from school and he had found himself once more inside of an empty house. His mom had visited for a day or two before leaving again and he had wound up running into the boy almost immediately after. That in itself didn't really matter to him but at the moment, as stupid as it was, he craved the red-eyed bastard's presence if only so he wouldn't feel so immediately alone.

Yugi tended to have trouble when he was alone. He dwelled on stupid things—arguments between his parents and grandfather, past tests that he had failed, conversations that he had had, how often his parents were gone, schoolwork he needed to get done but didn't have the energy for, how often he got teased, game scores that he didn't seem able to beat set by himself but so low that he couldn't wrap his head around it—and it always dragged him down. He got caught on the tiniest details, thought of what he could have done so much better, about chances he would never get, how badly he was doing with handling this new appearance in his life.

Biting his thumbnail nervously, he cast a glance at his shadow again, willing the other into existence again. He wanted him corporeal and in front of him, to be able to spit at him and lash out until he was blue in the face and the other was struck dumbfounded. But he knew somewhere in the back of his mind that the shadow was so much lighter than it had been on the trek up the stairs. And he was well aware that he would never make it that far in the first place. Somewhere in the arguments he would fall quiet, spent of energy, and probably end up getting his ass kicked if he wasn't careful about what he said before he exhausted himself.

Groaning, Yugi covered his face with his hands and ignored the sensation of how cold his legs were from the wet fabric. He was almost too lazy to bother with an attempt of changing his clothes, but forced himself to his feet. It was better he just got it over with and then settled for sleep or something. The idea of resting made him cringe, however, because he was pretty sure he would end up with yet another nightmare and he didn't know if he wanted that.

Nightmares aside, however, he thought he wouldn't be able to get any sleep anyways. He was too acutely aware of just how alone he was, as always, and the lack of life in the house when he was so used to his grandpa's presence would keep him up for hours. He cast a glance at the clock as he tugged on some pajama bottoms and narrowed his eyes into slits. It would be a long night and he might as well make it somewhat productive.

Two hours passed with him staring at his textbook and marking answers on his worksheet, bored out of his mind. A feeling of extreme reluctance and foreboding had crept through him somewhere between the first hour and now and he found himself resigned to the longing in his bones.

"If you're still here…" he mumbled quietly, swallowing hard and glancing at his shadow to find that it looked brighter than it had before. A shiver passed through him, the loneliness biting at him harshly and tearing a hole in his gut. "Please…I'm…I need someone…"

A bitter flash of resentment crept through him at the aspect of the whine in his voice. He sounded like a pathetic little kid but he couldn't help but feel as if he was at the moment. He felt stripped bare and left in the cold for dead but there was nothing he could do to alleviate the sensation. Yugi scowled at the thought of the other laughing at him for his little effort, how easily he had cracked like this under the weight of loneliness. Anger bubbled up in the pit of his stomach but his desperation failed to fade away as he eyed the darkness against the wall.

"Please…"

For a moment he thought he saw something twitch but realized it was just the way his fingers were unconsciously flicking the pencil in his hand. He bit his tongue until it bled, tired and frustrated and feeling almost as if he were sinking. Angrily he lowered his eyes to the worksheets spread across his desk. He flicked his pencil and blinked slowly at the sound of something clicking downstairs.

That wasn't unusual. The heat had probably finally decided to come on again, as it had an hour ago. The thought made his skin crawl and the absence of his family or even the idiot who resembled him so greatly made his stomach twist unhappily.

A small bit of hatred swirled in his gut, aimed towards the red-eyed phantom that seemed to haunt his thoughts so often when he was alone. He clenched his pencil until it felt as if the plastic were going to break in his grip, and bared his teeth. He would have loved to smack him upside the head, especially after the bastard ignored him so cruelly now. He had responded to him at the hospital when he had challenged him.

And now, when he had actually begged like a child for comfort, he was ignoring him.

He looked at the pencil and for a moment he pictured the teen, thinking of just how easily it might be to snap his neck like he could the writing utensil. He blinked stupidly at the thought, horrified that it had crept through his mind, and looked around slowly. The boy wasn't there, not even against the wall…

The pencil snapped and he dropped it, groaning in defeat just as a soft padding noise reached his ears. It sounded as if someone was coming up the stairs but he was pretty sure he was hearing things. Maybe the other boy was messing with his head, twisting and playing around with his insecurities.

Yugi bristled at the thought and pulled on a bang harsh enough that he had to bite back a furious yelp of pain. He let his hands fall to the metal surface of his desk, swallowing hard and chewing his cheek as he blinked. The sound of the door coming open made him stiffen, a feeling of distinct hate-filled gratitude and sudden excitement slamming through him.

Maybe the bastard had come after all…

He swallowed, not wanting to get his hopes up.

He could be messing with his head and playing with his mind, after all. That option was still clearly on the table and Yugi wasn't about to dismiss it at any rate.

"Wow, it's so much warmer up here than it is downstairs."

His head snapped up, eyes wide as he spun around in his seat, blinking and then grinning widely. "Mom!" he exclaimed, jumping to his feet and hurrying to hug her tightly, burying his face in her neck like a scared child seeking reassurance. He closed his eyes tightly, moving to draw her closer, feeling so distinctly relieved that he was almost ashamed of himself.

He was sixteen. He should have been able to deal with being on his own.

But he was so lonely and it had gotten so much worse lately that he couldn't even find it in him to truly want to belittle himself for his reaction to her presence.

Selfishly he would soak in her attention until she was gone again, and then he would deal with the mess of dark stinging bitterness that had crept through him lately.


	6. Chapter VI

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Warning: Cursing should be relatively mild but sometimes grows a little more at times, Season 0 Yami...and he's a little more unhinged than usual, so keep that in mind**.

**Note: There are mentions of blood, some graphic images of death, sensual moments and feelings, touches of violence/abuse**

**Update Schedule: I'm going to try for bi-weekly updates**

**Writing Note: I'm trying a new, more descriptive style for a story I plan to write later so tell me how I did with it?**

**Anyways, the story is a way to help get rid of some writer's block I'm dealing with so it's serving as a style-trial and a way to get back into writing.**

**A quick note: Just because Yami is a little different in this chapter does NOT mean that he is going to be any bit softer than he was before. He's just having one of those moments in the chapter so don't expect it often after this.**

* * *

Chapter VI

He was not human.

He could not be human.

Right?

Yugi shook his head as he tried to concentrate on getting home without being run over; he had been so distracted he had been nearly been made part of the asphalt at least three or four times already. All of the drivers had honked at him far longer than needed, one of them actually rolling down their window to spit at him and snarl that he should watch where he was going. He wasn't looking forward to a fifth and yet the boy was the single most prominent thing in his mind.

He couldn't shake off the thoughts no matter how hard he tried and they constantly circled back to the bastard. He knew he was nearby and he thought maybe he was getting closer to him as he walked. But he wasn't entirely sure and he didn't know if he was all too thrilled to find out. He was still angry with the thought that he had actually begged him to come to him and yet the other had done nothing. His mom's presence had soothed the ache of being alone but it had done nothing to quell his anger.

In fact, he thought that perhaps it had only fueled it that much more. She was there for him when he hadn't asked and it was a strange concept that she had come when he needed someone there the most. She had never really had much of a maternal sense when it came to timing or much more than assuring he had a good future and a foundation to fall back on if his plans failed. Past that, she wasn't very motherly. She seemed to hold him at a distance without meaning to and she tended to push more of her onto him than he could handle at times.

But now, as he tried to stay mad at the other boy—not a hard task by any means—he found it slipping towards something akin avid pity.

That look that he had worn the last time he had seen him was burned into his mind.

The boy had not understood.

He did not understand anything.

That by any means, could not be considered even slightly human and definitely not human. There was absolutely no way that was normal.

Yugi reached up and rubbed at his face, shaking his head and sighing loudly. By the gods, he could not even get the situation out of his head. He shook his head again, tugging on a bang violently until he yelped as he had the night before. He reveled in the pain for a split second, biting his tongue to draw a bit of reality back into his clouded mind. But he honestly didn't understand how he was supposed to deal with all of this. And with the way that things were going, he thought that his improvising was doing him pretty damn well.

A car honked loudly in front of him and he flipped them off without even thinking about it. He didn't bother to look at them as he continued walking straight for the shop, ignoring someone yelling about him being an ignorant kid. He guessed that he would have to open shop soon enough, as his mom surely wouldn't be doing that anytime soon. She was always too high strung for selling things and more than once she had cost them a sale when she had interfered. And it was not as if he would be able to get his hands on an excuse not to do it. Besides, he needed to open up again. Since the idiot had entered his life days ago, he had not really done much with it. His mom had assured him she would do it but he knew already that it was a bad idea. The last time she had been the one to man the shop, he walked downstairs to a mom screaming at his while a girl stood a few feet away sobbing her eyes out. She was so not someone to sell things. And he was pretty sure that most of the costumers made absolutely sure to avoid her at all costs if she was the one behind the desk. And he needed something to get the stupid boy off his mind for a little while anyways…

He opened the door after fumbling with the keys in his pockets for a long minute, hands feeling shaky and weak. He guessed he needed a snack to eat as he twisted the key, already thinking of graham crackers with peanut butter, and then froze as he stepped inside.

No. No way.

He could _feel _him.

Not his aura. Not the power. Not the chill in the back of his mind. No, he felt _him_.

Like some kind of omnipresence.

Yugi shook his head as he pressed the door shut and flipped the locks; his mom must not have been home at the moment. Either that or the bastard was crazier than he looked and actually thought he could withstand his mother if she spotted him. Regardless, he could feel him upstairs…probably in his room because he seemed rather…reluctant to go into any other part of the house.

It was like having someone in the same room and not being able to see them. He was there, somewhere, sharp and burning like a flame in the back of his mind. By the gods, Yugi could feel him like a second skin, like he was attached to him…

He slipped up the stairs and opened the door, kicking his shoes off and closing it again before padding down the hall. The bright red-violet of the walls made his head ring for a moment but he ignored it in favor of wandering to his bedroom door. It was too early for this. He had just spent hours failing horribly at school wondering when his mother would up and leave again as she always did. And he had been ambushed by the sensation that the other was nearby, extremely close, within walking distance, since before he had even gotten to school. He wondered if he had just gotten there when he had left and missed him by chance or if he had done it on purpose. If he had meant to intimidate him, he had failed drastically because all he had done was officially piss him off. He so did not want to have to deal with this prick.

He threw the door open and the boy did not so much as look at him from where he was seated in the chair at his desk. Yugi narrowed his eyes, taking in the way he was leaned forward with his elbows against his knees, red eyes narrowed into slits as they gazed at his bed almost darkly. For a split second he was curious before the hatred slipped through him almost like a serpent through dirt.

"You should leave. Before I call the police."

He didn't acknowledge him in any way, ignoring him as if he had not spoken in the first place. The most he did was narrow his eyes more, the shadows making his pupils stretch and his gaze almost completely black from the direction Yugi was taking them in.

The small teen dug into his pockets and went about pulling his phone out, flipping it open and starting to dial. The nine had just appeared on the screen before a sharp pain shot through his hand at the joint of his wrist. He dropped it, recoiling and letting out a sharp cry of pain as his head snapped towards him, eyes wide in shock. The other boy had his nails pressed into his skin, digging through the flesh. Blood spilled from the wound, dripping down the skin of the exact same arm that had been holding the phone a moment before.

Oh gods…

He watched the blood drip along his long digits until finally the boy pulled his nails away. Rivulets of bright red made his heart skip and his stomach twist as his eyes shot from the self-inflicted wound to his face and back. His skin burned where the split on the other's shown, tingling and he thought it felt slippery and wet, as if it were truly bleeding. And oddly, all he could think about was just how bright it actually was, like the boy's ruby eyes, like regular blood. He would have thought it would have been dark, a shade or two deeper than his own, but it was bright and gleaming and he found himself wanting to gape at the idea.

"Yeah. I figured that out earlier," the other teen snarled, getting to his feet and approaching with the grace of a predator, steps silent as he stopped a few mere inches away from him. "When you fell off the side of the bed and knocked your head against the nightstand."

"Oh, _forgive _me," he spat in annoyance, rolling his eyes and looking his hand over. His eyes shot to his arm, both relieved and mortified by the fact that he was not bleeding. His skin was still as perfectly unmarked as it had been when he had entered the room. And his mind, his body, was mimicking the sensation of blood and pain that the other felt. When he looked up again, the other boy had pulled his fingers away, looking the blood over where it had sunk into his pores, and seemed almost cruelly satisfied. The look brought his fury back tenfold and he found himself bristling as he looked the other viciously. "I don't normally have to deal with the idiocy of some fucking _moron _sneaking into my room. Nightmares about opening my eyes to you holding a knife and all. Oh yes, I could see how I shouldn't have recoiled and risked falling off the bed."

"Bullshit," the other snapped. "There was no such nightmare."

"You say that as if you know my dreams," Yugi sneered, shoving him back a step and heading further into his room to drop his bag under the desk. He could tell from the irritation and bites of self-hatred that coiled in his stomach that the other boy had not meant to let that slip, that he had just gained information that he wasn't supposed to have. But he had no idea what the hell he was supposed to do with that and instead focused on pushing the chair in and spinning on him with a glare. "Do you even know _anything_?"

The red-eyed boy stayed quiet, staring at him with an expression Yugi wasn't sure how to read, pissing him off further. For a moment he had a brief flash of an idea of striking out, that momentary violence of snapping his pencil and wondering if the boy's neck would split that same way empowering him for a split second.

"What the fuck are you even doing here? You couldn't wait until midnight and then sneak in here and frustrate the hell out of me? Was a few hours too long for you or something? How about you hand me that phone and I'll go ahead and call the cops and they can deal with you?"

"Are you back on that? You really think they can help you?"

"Anything to get rid of you, you piece of shit."

"Funny. You keep calling me that."

"That's because that's what you _are_!" He paused and glanced at his arm before wrinkling his nose. The metallic scent seemed stronger than he had ever experienced and it made his head spin slightly. The pain in his wrist had lessened to something of a dull ache and the sensation of blood on his arm, trailing down his elbow, made him want to vomit. "Stop bleeding everywhere!"

_Is that so_? _Didn't seem that way when you were begging me to come to you last night_, the other thought without hesitation, smirking wryly though the statement never reached Yugi's mind. Perhaps he would save that fight for another day, conserve the effort for the time being. Or maybe it would die as it had begun, because now amusement tugged at his insides, begging for acknowledgment that he had denied the other boy the day before. "Why? You green around the edges is kind of hilarious to see."

"You're disturbed."

"Are you just realizing this?"

Yugi stopped short and stared at him for a moment; he knew that. He _knew _that. He knew just how messed up he was, how badly his mind seemed disconnected. He was aware of just how wrong his behavior was. He knew all about just how fucked up his mentality was. But why the hell wasn't he working on it?

"You know that and yet you're not working on it."

"How would you know? Do you expect instant progress? It's only been a handful of days."

"Since what? Since you met me? Wow, amazing! Oh wow, because you aren't older than me, are you?" he spat, shaking his head and glaring as he shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from lashing out. His shoulders bunched up, his spine tensing, and he thought he could feel his muscles rippling beneath his skin with the movement. The other boy didn't so much as blink at his tone nor his display but Yugi could see his head tilt the slightest fraction of a centimeter. It was so miniscule that it nearly made him feel sick to his stomach with the realization of just how hyperaware he was of the other boy. "You cannot seriously tell me that this right here is your attempt at working on something."

"See, here's the thing, little Yugi," he hissed, lowering his voice until it seemed to slither through the air like a snake, curling into his eardrum and chilling his skin. He could see the predatory senses awakening behind his red eyes, the way his pupils contracted and his gaze sharpened like knives. "You brought me here. You. Only you. I have not been here long enough to attempt 'working on' something as you so nicely put it. But I have you for that, do I not?"

"Again with that. 'Brought' you here. Right. Because that makes perfect s—"

"Listen to your own words, you little brat," he snarled, baring his teeth even as his voice dipped lower, growing colder than the air and freezing his bones. His lips curled back further and the tips of his canines glinted, making his heart race as a drop of blood hit the carpet and his ears seemed to tingle with the imaginary sound of it soaking into the fibers. "Do you not hear the answer yet?"

"You're full of crap, that's what I _hear_."

The other boy lunged so suddenly that Yugi stumbled backwards with wide eyes, self-preservation striking him before he could think to hold his ground. The red eyes glinted with absolute hatred and then pure laughter as the boy pulled away, backing up a step. His wide smirk made Yugi's heart pound and shame fill his insides, wishing he had somehow been able to anticipate his action and stand up to it. Now the boy was mocking him as he turned his attention to the phone on the ground.

He realized only a second too late what his gaze had settled on. And that split second of hesitance was enough to make his dive for the little device completely useless. The boy plucked it before he even had a chance of moving, straightening to his full height and looking down at him with that smirk stretching wider. For a second he merely held it in his palm, flipping it several times as Yugi glared up at him, too annoyed in that moment to bother trying to get to his feet again. Finally the other popped the back off, tearing the battery out soundlessly and tossing both onto the bed without a single word.

The smaller teen stared at him for a long minute and then pulled himself to his feet, staring down at the dismantled phone. He stared at the battery until it made his eyes hurt and then finally turned back to him, mumbling, "How did you know to do that?"

"What?"

"If I 'brought' you here days ago or whatever, then how the hell did you know to do that?"

"I saw you do it one time."

"How long have you been following me around?"

"Following…?"

"_Stalking _me," he snarled, spinning on him again and breathing hard with an unsettling panic and anger twisting inside of his stomach. "How long have you been stalking me like this?"

"I have not been stalking you," the other spat, baring his teeth furiously and bristling at the accusation. His shoulders rose, his lips curled back until each of his teeth showed, and when he spoke again, Yugi fought back the urge to stumble back and try to put distance between them. He felt like a piece of prey being stared down by a predator that had the strength and accuracy to rip him open if he only moved. And he knew he would have no chance of escaping it with the speed that the other had shown only moments before. "Why waste my time with such a tedious task? I am merely here because you brought me here. Apparently that is not what you wanted but it is what you _get_."

"What are you even _talking _about? I didn't _bring _you here! I had nothing to do with you until you suddenly barged your way into my life and shoved your tongue down my throat!"

"When do you think it happened? Days! Days ago! It's only been days!"

"You're like seventeen or eighteen or some crap! You aren't a little kid and you're acting like one for no goddamned reason!" he snarled, shaking his head in annoyance and resisting the urge to lash out again. His frustration pushed against the other's mind and he felt sick to his stomach at the sensation of burning hatred that met him there. "You may have found your way into my life a few days ago, but that doesn't mean anything!"

"Are you daft?" he spat, reaching out to grab his shirt and jerk him forward a step. Yugi tried to steel his body, pressing his weight into the carpet to keep from being thrown back or pulled further forward. He wasn't sure what the other would do if he got those small bits of distance. He thought it would easy for him to open his jaws and just sink his teeth into his throat or to throw him down the stairs if he got enough momentum. "I am not eighteen or nineteen. I am sixteen—the same as you. You should think before you speak. You're already treading on dangerous ground, boy."

"_Yugi_. My. Name. Is. _Yugi_." The smaller teen attempted to push him away but failed miserably. The grip around his shirt tightened and for a second his windpipe closed before he released again and Yugi drew in a ragged breath, furious once more. "Now release me!"

"Why should I do that? What would be the point of that?"

"Get off of me!"

"No, why should I do that? Tell me why!"

He moved to shove him again but the other teen merely tensed and refused to budge. Yugi didn't bother with a second attempt, knowing just from that first attempt that every muscle in the other's body was locked in place. He had no hope to be able to push him away. He would have tried waiting for a moment for his guard to slip and then to shove him away but he thought with how dangerous he was, he would have the reflexes to stop him in his tracks. Especially if he was reading his mind at that moment, though Yugi could not feel him there.

"Goddamn it," he muttered, shaking his head and sighing loudly, feeling almost exhausted now. His limbs felt heavy, his body weighted until his anger felt strained and pitiful. "Why won't you just _leave me alone_?"

"You aren't listening! You brought me here! I can't go back because of you," he snarled, baring his teeth. He disregarded the whining undertone that came with the other's words, opting instead for simply making him understand rather than lashing out at his weakness. "Not that I would wish to. However you dragged me to this godforsaken place and now you are stuck with me."

For a split second Yugi saw the image of a dog in the forefront of his mind. A little Shiba Inu with bright brown eyes, shaking and barking and vicious as a puma when it snarled. It let out a howl in the split second the sesame-colored animal appeared in his mind but it was immediately gone again, the sound dying away with it.

Confusion sparked at his insides for a split second but an overwhelming tiredness crept through him now, leaving him feeling weak and stupid as he stared at the other. "What are you even talking about?" he groaned softly, his anger growing thin and snapping away like a overstretched rubber band. It died immediately, the coil of frustrated tension leaving him as his shoulders sagged, the need to fight leaving him now as they looked at each other. "Why do you keep _saying _stuff like that?"

"Because I need you!"

Yugi shook his head again and closed his eyes, feeling small and weak and so tired that he felt like his legs would buckle beneath him. "I don't know what you want from me. What the hell do you want—?"

"I don't know! I don't know what the hell I want," he spat, sounding frustrated and confused and pathetic as his voice cracked in desperation. The smaller teen's eyes shot open, shocked out of his mind by the statement, by the way his voice broke as it did. When he looked at him, the other didn't look as if he had broken in anyway, his body rigid and almost statue-like. But his eyes sparkled with desperation and for a second he thought they looked glassy, as if tears were building, but the effect was gone immediately again. He could see fire around his pupils, hot anger mingling with something like a strained panic, cruel but beautiful to the eyes as they stared at each other. "I don't know what I want. I don't know…I don't…"

"Okay, okay, okay! Calm down, okay?" Yugi murmured, holding his hands up and searching his face. His sharp jaws set, his eyes glinted, and his lips threatened to curl up, twitching with uncontainable rage. "I don't…We'll work it out or something. Just…don't freak out, okay?"

The crimson gaze narrowed into slits of gleaming red eyes framed by long black lashes. The gaze bore into his skin and left him with the desire to shiver and he realized that there were a million different things wrong with that single look.

Hatred, bitterness, resentment, distrust, suspicion, a cold fire of disgust…

And all of it was directed towards him.

But Yugi honestly could not tell what he had done wrong exactly, if that was even a true assessment to be made. What kind of thing had he done to make the other lash out at him like this? The smaller teen shook his head slightly, feeling weak and small; what the hell was even going on?

Lashes of confusion and hatred curled through him and bit at his exhausted mind. He could not tell where it was directed, in all honestly. But it seemed to reach towards him as well as the other boy, vicious and unrestrained with jagged edges that buried themselves into his skin like barbs. Yugi didn't understand what he was supposed to do with all the emotions that were going through him. Half of them weren't his but he was still aware that the pitiful amount of sudden self-despair was all his. And he recognized the frustration that was dying and the sorrow of the situation, the pity and self-pity as his own without a single moment of question. But mixed with the hatred and the anger and the bitterness, the fresh resentment, it got confusing to attempt sorting them out like he was trying.

Yugi closed his eyes and tipped his head back, unsure of what else to do.

The sunlight burned through his lashes, hurting his eyes faintly, pale red as he tried to think straight. He could not hear the other boy moving and for a moment the security of his stillness was overwhelming. The boy had no plans to hurt him, though Yugi was unsure if that was because of his little discovery earlier or if it was because he honestly had not planned to do it when he had situated himself in his room in the first place.

His head was swimming and infested, full of things that were hardly his, emotions that were too foreign and different and difficult to decipher. He could not even really tell if his feet were still on the ground with the way that things were tilting and becoming lopsided in his mind.

He thought vaguely that if the other thought his room was claustrophobic, he would have hated his mind. It seemed so crowded and tiny, like the air had grown compact and pushed in on itself. It felt just like the room around him, too small to contain him and the other, overcrowded, and all it did was make him feel even more exhausted. His mind was like a weight, his body too heavy to move, and he nearly laughed at how pathetic he felt, unable to think bitingly towards how he had been resolved to fight him off just earlier during math. That had been the plan, to chase him off, but he couldn't turn his back on him after seeing how weak and desperate he had seemed moments before. No, unlike the other boy, he could not find it in himself to turn away from him when he needed him so much.

He didn't resist when a small almost hesitant kiss was pressed to his jaw. He was not sure if it was because he didn't have the will to fight or if he was desperate for something to soothe the burn that was starting beneath his veins. He found himself not caring to identify his reasoning, allowing him to press another a small inch away from the juncture in his throat.

His teeth slid over his skin, nipping once before applying enough pressure to make him moan softly. The pain that reared through his mind, the desperation and confusion, was enough to make him open his eyes into tiny slits, regarding the other boy. Red eyes were wide with a bewildered, astonished expression, and he had moved slightly back a step, blinking at him. Yugi couldn't understand why he hesitated, why he looked so shocked like this. The emotions, however, were enough to make him feel hollow and mindless, to throw him into some kind of confusion beyond all control.

His teeth nipped again and Yugi blinked slowly, reaching out to grasp at his shirt tightly, to grab a fistful of material and twist lightly. His other hand crept to the back of his head, fingers moving to grasp soft strands of hair that felt as smooth and glossy as pure silk. He wasn't sure if he was cradling or encouraging or if he just wanted something to keep him grounded for a moment where his mind failed to give him any traction. The strands were just so soft, cool yet warm at the same time where he had expected them to be as cold as his aura and overall demeanor. But it felt good, warming further with his body heat and gentle and giving beneath his fingers, grounding him somehow, in a way that Yugi couldn't quite understand.

So much he didn't understand…

Yugi nearly laughed at the thought.

This situation was driving him insane. Soon enough his family would be carting him off to a mental ward. He would be drugged and kept under constant observation with no freedom. There would be padded walls and they would make sure that his food was slush so he could practically drink it with no chance of hurting himself with his teeth or utensils.

Maybe it was never his grandpa who he should have been so worried about going insane from the Puzzle. Maybe it was him who he should have been paying so much attention to. Maybe it was his own scattered mind and shattered thoughts. Perhaps this was his punishment for having touched the ancient item. Perhaps this was what he got for not heeding the warning on the side of the box that said he would gain the power and knowledge of the darkness. Maybe this was what he got for playing with magic that was rumored to be more binding than death and older than time itself. Maybe this was what he got for playing with the Puzzle of the Gods, a power he had treated as a toy and probably never had the proper respect for growing up. But he still wasn't grown up and he doubted he had the proper respect to show the little item. And perhaps this boy was his judgment, his death, given flesh and bone and blood…

His own personal death, given breath…

Yugi could not tell if he was remorseful of the thought or not, still reeling with the desperation that was lapping at his insides. He drowned beneath the fear and the hatred that was directed towards them both, the strained confusion and bitterness he had no idea how to deal with.

So much…

There was just so _much_…

His teeth chewed on his skin, gentle little tugs and nips as if he were trying to make his skin tender enough to take a bite out of him. He wondered if the boy would stop if he died. Maybe he would eat him alive. Maybe he was meant to tear his flesh from his bones and feast on him. Maybe he would never even leave his carcass alone afterwards. Yugi thought that was just the kind of punishment someone who had played with magic they had right to deserved. It seemed just, disgustingly enough.

Regardless of whether he agreed with it or not, he was relative sure that if this was his retribution, it would happen without his approval. He could not push it away and at this rate, he didn't think he would have even if he had the chance.

Yugi shivered lightly at the thought, a maniacal little bubble of laughter crawling up his throat and dying on his tongue. The other teen's mouth moved to the edge of his, hesitating as if he was not sure what he was doing anymore. Maybe the confusion was slowing him down as well now. Well, if he was going to die, at least it was going to be at home and it would be somewhat easy. The teen might not even go much further than just spilling his blood on the floor. Maybe that would satisfy him enough that he wouldn't go further with someone else, try to kill others after him…

_If I had wanted to kill you_…

The voice was like ice water and slithering skin, a snake made of elements, all wind against his cheek as the boy breathed and mental prowess as it entered his mind.

_…you would be dead by now_.

_Then what do you _want? he thought in response, blinking as the other teen pulled back enough to lock eyes with him for a moment before moving to press their lips together. The mouth against his was firm and soft, never yielding when he didn't really respond at first.

_I don't know_.

Yugi figured there were a lot of things he didn't know.

That neither of them had a true grasp on.

His hands move to his upper arms, gripping with palms that were slightly shaky but seemed more than a little firm, somehow in a space between. A small desperate noise bubbled up into his mouth, burning and lingering there against his tongue. The other boy's mouth seemed cold but warm all the same, as if it were drawing life, warmth, from his.

Maybe that was what he was doing.

He was killing him by sucking the life out of him in a way that he didn't think to argue over. In a way that was actually more fun than just slitting his throat, though he couldn't see the other caring for the way he felt as far as his method of death went. No, he thought the other boy would have enjoyed killing him regardless, without thought to what Yugi suffered through in the meantime.

The more he thought about it, the more his mind haunted him with the question of why he was not arguing and trying to push him away.

He didn't understand what was going on with him anymore. Though this shouldn't have been happening, he did not care to stop it in the least. He should have been fighting back but he couldn't find the strength to. He should have been telling the boy to leave him alone but he was instead letting him kiss him and hold him so tightly he was afraid his bones might break beneath his skin. He was letting him drag his tongue along the roof of his mouth and feeling them bleed into each other and encouraging and drowning…

He was drowning and the water was ablaze.

Yugi nearly laughed at himself for that thought but he still could not find it in himself to try to stop the other boy. He pressed forward slightly, surprising himself and the other who released his arms for a split second before tightening his grip all over again. The smaller couldn't tell if that was admittance to map out his mouth or not but either way he found himself doing it as the other had moments before. He could feel him bleeding into him, merging and dancing where they were supposed to be separate, but the blend was there and refused to die, refused to be put down.

It was pleasurable and painful all at once.

It disguised itself as euphoria but it gave itself away with the burn it possessed as it blistered his tongue.

A small moan, broken and aching and lost, came from the taller and Yugi fought off the urge to pull away and breathe. His mind swirled and his heart skipped slightly, his senses addicted to the taste in his mouth and the burn that came with it. He spread his fingers out in his hair, moved them over his scalp, not sure if he was merely combing or massaging but earning a small unsteady purr regardless. It rumbled in his throat, a rusty noise that sounded almost sore, coming from deep in his chest and tickling his tongue as the other boy shivered. It spread more evenly, lowering to a softer volume, and steadied itself to the point that it sounded like an eager cat.

So beautiful a noise.

Sickeningly beautiful…

He had always figured that kisses were supposed to be romantic, that they were supposed to mean something. He had been raised thinking that romance was a possibility, true love existed, but this…this was none of that. It was not the least bit romantic. It was frantic and painful, terrifying in every way, with an abject helplessness shared between them that neither knew how to control or work with.

"Everyone has a little bit of a desire to save the world in them. That's why they're always striving to change the world. But sometimes it's okay if you can only save one person and that person is you…"

The other boy pulled away, startled by the words that had come through Yugi's mind; the smaller teen blinked a few times but didn't release him.

_Grandpa_…

The red-eyed teen flinched with a wounded look that made him seem almost human for a split second and Yugi blinked before looking towards the ground. The deep purple shade of color made his head spin and he wished that the floor held the answers to what was going on and what he needed to do. He wanted to help the boy but he had no idea how and he was hurting, his pain a deep chasm that tore at his insides where they overlapped. Yugi squeezed his eyes shut, feeling hopeless and miserable. He couldn't tell if his ache was because of him or if it was something deeper, far more involved and primal, feral in design and the shape it took inside of him.

He swallowed hard, trying to think of what he could possibly do, what he should be doing. Was it wrong that he ached so badly now that he was no longer kissing him? That he wanted to keep going, to have blood spilled between them to wash at both of their insides? He knew he wasn't the only one who felt that way or the other boy wouldn't react nearly as much as he did.

When he finally opened his eyes and looked up again, the other boy was staring at him with the most uncertain expression Yugi had ever seen in his life. It was almost as if he were waiting for him to lash out again, obviously sure he was mad at him, but he wasn't. In all actuality, Yugi knew that he was just tired, too tired by far for something like anger. But now he thought it went deeper than he had originally assumed. He was tired of everything, including the boy in front of him who was becoming far too important and all-encompassing in far too little time. Parts of him were starting to become lost and fragmented and he could feel them dissipating completely the longer he was around the other. Yugi was far from blind to it, just as he was not oblivious to the darker thoughts that crowded his mind where they had never formerly existed. Yugi had never been blind to it but he was still letting it happen and he didn't understand why. But now he missed it. He missed himself, his strength, the ability to think with a level head where he was now blind.

Following blindly was what got people killed. And yet, if Yugi was right, that was already what was happening. Something was dying inside of him, twisting and writhing in the darkness and bleeding and merging, changing into something else. But it was not painful, and the boy in front of him seemed to be experiencing something similar no matter how hard he tried to hide it. He could see it in his eyes, little sparks of something he didn't recognize but knew were there, gleaming and looking more damaged than the rest of him. And even if he had not been able to see it, he would have had to be suffering the same as him. To be here, in this place, right in front of him, looking at him with such an expression…

One of them was the sheep and the wolf.

But with the way the boy was staring at him like a predator that had just run across a much stronger creature, he couldn't tell who was which.

But he needed help. Both of them did.

This was quickly becoming impossible even if it was such a short time of interaction.

Yugi shook his head after a long moment. He needed something to keep him grounded and at the moment it was the boy in front of him. He seemed like something that was double-edged but would help in every way he needed it, yet the small teen still had trouble accepting that. If he was right, then maybe they could make things turn out great. But if not, he could tell everything would fall apart immediately, without a single hesitation, but he couldn't tell if it was worth the risk yet. He had to think about that.

Things didn't happen like this every day and it was hard trying to contain it in a box to actually attempt working with.

"I…I think you should leave…"

The other boy's eyes flashed darkly, almost as if he were reluctant but Yugi could see nothing but extreme discomfort and uncertainty, but he still released him. The smaller teen took a second to figure out where they were still connected, slowly untangling his fingers from his hair and shirt, finding it impossibly hard to do so. He blinked when at first his fist refused to give all of the fabric of his shirt back to the other boy, frowning as he drew his hands back towards himself and stared at him blankly.

"I'm sorry…"

His eyes flashed and Yugi thought he was going to argue for a second but a crackling like the lightning from before came up. A dark black mist thick enough to be fog seemed to come from the walls to settle against him lightly almost like shed snakeskin, wrapping itself around the other boy for a moment. He spotted the lightning just as it faded and the boy was gone again.

Yugi tilted his head, curious but not about to press for answers at this point. By the gods, he had to think this over.


	7. Chapter VII

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Warning: Cursing should be relatively mild but sometimes grows a little more at times, Season 0 Yami...and he's a little more unhinged than usual, so keep that in mind**.

**Note: There are mentions of blood, some graphic images of death, sensual moments and feelings, touches of violence/abuse**

**Update Schedule: I'm going to try for bi-weekly updates**

**Writing Note: I'm trying a new, more descriptive style for a story I plan to write later so tell me how I did with it?**

**Anyways, the story is a way to help get rid of some writer's block I'm dealing with so it's serving as a style-trial and a way to get back into writing.**

* * *

Chapter VII

"Hey, Tea…can I ask you something?" he murmured as he took a seat next to her the following day in class. He was surprised he didn't choke on the words, a sick feeling seizing his stomach and making him want to vomit as he watched her. For a moment his cousin's eyes flickered towards him, confused as to why he was cutting into their conversation when he had never done so before, and Tea looked over. At first her eyes were bright with reassurance and her lips were curved into a small smile, friendly as always, but as she took him in, her face seemed to fall, her mouth twisting into a frown. He couldn't blame her for the confusion or alarm that now shone in those wide azure eyes, feeling even worse for having brought attention to it. He had seen his reflection in the bathroom mirror when he had gotten up, tired eyes and exhaustion everywhere. It had looked as if the life had seemingly been drained from him, making his already small stature that much tinier, something that he didn't even want to acknowledge.

The image was engraved in his exhausted mind, burned there as if he had been branded and festering like an open sore. He had done a double take, startled by the vision that had greeted him in the mirror. Where his skin was normally a healthy yet pale peach shade, just creamy enough to make him seem more attractive, it had turned as white as sheets, almost ghostly. The new shade to his face had done nothing but make his eyes look far wider than they normally did, unnatural by all means and far less than the exotic shade of violet offered. A small hint of a flushed pink shade dusted just beneath his eyes where the bags had collected long lines that shouldn't have existed considering how well he had slept through the night. His eyes had become dull whereas they were usually vibrant and the epitome of life, exotic in the way they held such equally hypnotizing colors, a deep violet with ringlets of sapphire blue around the pupils and outer irises, beneath where his long lashes cast shadows that drew even more attention to the rich shades. Now they looked strained and unfocused as he used them, the blue taking on a seemingly gray undertone of color that really showed around his pupils, giving it the illusion of a shallow depth, the purple taking on a more pinkish red-violet shade that looked whitewashed. His bangs, normally light and fluffy where they fell in jagged yellow spikes, seemed to droop tiredly from where they hung next to his cheek and to the center, his forelock had dropped the most to become a stringy mess of goldenrod. Even his hair in general, normally splendid in their disarray and eye-catching by all means, seemed as if it had been pressed down and weighted by some kind of invisible force. And there was nothing he could do to hide it because styling it made it even stringier and gave it a nasty sheen like grease when he put gel in as he had attempted to do several times growing up only to be teased over it.

Yugi shifted back slightly in his seat and swallowing hard as he took in the astonished expression on her face. He caught Mai's mouth falling open from the corner of his eye, the blonde quickly working to collect herself and turn away immediately to keep from saying anything she might not mean. She had no true impulse control when it came to speaking—no matter the subject—and normally she let things slip out that were not so good in general. Most people would bristle when she spoke without thought, offended by the blonde's more blase way of saying whatever was on her mind, and he was grateful because he didn't think he could handle it at the moment. His mind still felt hazy, as if he were wading through some kind of dream overlapping with reality, and he had enough to think about without an outside problem being pointed out. It was bad enough that he was well aware of how bad he looked, especially with the pain and fear and desperation that made his stomach twist and felt as if it would drive him insane at a second's notice.

"Sure," she finally got out, a small breath of a word that sounded strained and awkward to their ears. Mai shifted awkwardly in her seat, Tea ignoring her even though she caught the small sigh of a noise that the blonde let out as if she were struggling to keep from speaking. She blinked, giving him an encouraging smile as she focused on his eyes as if they would somehow look healthier than the rest of him, some vain attempt at keeping some small bit of normalcy. "What is it?"

He opened his mouth, fully prepared to ask for her advice on the situation that he had found himself trapped in, and then found his voice refusing to come out. His lungs strained and closed in sync with his throat, his mouth following suit after a long moment of silently staring at her. A small blink helped to keep his head from racing nearly as much as it seemed to be, the darkness of his lids seeming to give him a momentary reprieve from the stress he could feel tightening his spine like a guitar string. He tilted his head, biting his cheek and taking a small bit of delight at the pain it brought, and then slowly tried to backtrack into thinking the words over. He knew the statement he would make, but the words seemed to be failing him pathetically.

Again he opened his mouth, starting to try to push the words forth so that Tea could hear him, but fell silent once more. His throat felt sore and awkward as he swallowed hard and tried for another failed attempt, finally shaking his head when his tired mind refused to give him even a word to use to ask her.

Why should he burden her with this?

She would only worry about him and he would feel terribly guilty for days on end if that were to happen. He would end up trying to force her out of the problem eventually, try to make her back off when she tried to give him the advice he so desperately craved but was unsure he actually needed. His mind tossed around the idea that he could handle the other boy but left nothing else for him to grasp at and he was reluctant to draw anyone else into this. If it did somehow turn out that he was just going crazy, he would rather not have his friends involved in it all. And besides, he had no actual words to offer an explanation for what he would ask, but he also didn't think he could live with himself like this anymore.

The boy was constantly at the forefront of his mind, red eyes and sharp angles, jagged teeth like a wild animal and a smirk that made him feel sick.

His stomach twisted and flopped and for a second he thought the acids had heated up in some kind of vain attempt to calm him, but the Puzzle rested against his abdomen and it burned his skin through his clothing like an open flame. The Puzzle, the stupid Puzzle. The very reminder that he had put it on after he had gotten out of the shower made him want to vomit once more. The stupid artifact could have been like some kind of beacon for the boy to follow for all he knew or maybe it was the entire reason that his mind seemed to be betraying itself like it was. He closed his eyes tightly, sighing, and shook his head again slowly.

"Never mind," he muttered, turning away and chewing his cheek once more, running his hands through his hair and resisting the urge to grasp at his skull in frustration. "It's nothing."

"Yugi…"

That soft reassurance made his skin crawl and his stomach flip violently; how could someone say his name like that, so kindly and softly? He was starting to feel like a monster beneath his skin, uncomfortable and feverish and desperate to escape it all. And yet she had somehow managed to coax him into some kind of foreign relaxation, just enough to open his eyes again and put his elbows on his desk, his face in his palms.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" the brunette asked in a soft voice next to him, reaching out and touching his shoulder. Where the action should have been reassuring and brought a smile to his face, it merely gave him a distinct feeling of shattering pain that didn't do much more than make him turn his head towards her.

"Yeah," he muttered, forcing his lips to take on a small smile that was far too strained for her to keep that soft look in her eyes. The blue gaze turned slightly suspicious but mostly hurt, as if his rejection of talking to her about it wounded her deeply; maybe it did, considering they were best friends. He was used to them talking to each other about everything at times, more so her but there were times where he would get things off his chest with her as well. "I'm okay. I think I know what I need to do."

_Bullshit, _his mind taunted coldly, mocking laughter seeming to echo in the center of his skull. _You have no idea what the fuck you're doing. Otherwise you wouldn't have even started talking to her in the first place…_

He didn't pay attention to the way that it was _his_ voice that was sneering as it was, disconnected to his ears in an odd and fragmented way that showed it was broken in every way. He had thought at first that it had been the other boy's, but it was his. It was his own, twisted cruelly and laughing.

Yugi wondered vaguely if taking off the Puzzle could make it shut up, if maybe somehow the action would bring him silence. He wondered how much the Puzzle had to do with all of it, especially with the red-eyed demon that seemed to be stalking him. And he debated taking it off and leaving it somewhere but something in the back of his mind told him not to and when he thought to reach up and take it up from around his neck, his hand felt too heavy to do so. But if he took the Puzzle off, did that mean the boy wouldn't be able to find him anymore?

He wrung a finger around the chain at the thought, stroking gently at the golden interspersed locks that felt cold against his skin and left him wanting to shiver for a split second. Was it really so easy to get rid of someone like that? The boy could do as he wanted. He had demonstrated that multiple times already, having made the hospital's light crash in front of him, disappearing and seemingly appearing out of thin air. He had made it so that no one could hear or see them that day at the arcade, had made it impossible for anyone to witness what had happened.

Yugi doubted something as simple as taking a piece of gold jewelry out of the equation would rectify it all. And besides, he was starting to wonder if perhaps the boy was nothing more than a figment of his imagination. If he was, the small teen hoped no one found out about it. But how could he be, when he claimed to have been the cause of Ushio's brain tumor?

Unless Yugi had somehow projected that thought onto the other boy when the information had first come out at school as a whispered rumor. But he didn't know if that was possible. Then again, there was always the idea that if he were truly a figment of his mind, created and festering there, then the boy could obviously always break into his thoughts, his memories, and twist them as he saw fit. Right? Wasn't that how mental diseases were supposed to seem?

He fought away a shiver at the thought, realizing slowly that his mind was circulating slowly towards the horror movie he had watched a while back. The serial killer had thought the dog was speaking to him, telling him to murder people, and Yugi had been unable to forget about that. Especially with all the tension that was creeping through him now and the boy that seemed to encompass everything he hated. What if it was like a switch and he was losing it slowly but surely?

But if he was a figment, how had he knocked him off the stool or made the ceiling light fall? How did he open and close the window in his room? Why was he so solid if he was really just something created from his mind breaking down?

"Okay," Tea finally murmured, cutting into his thoughts. She didn't want to push but Yugi could see the distinct look of disapproval she gave him, clearly saying that she did not believe him at all. "I'll drop it, Yugi, but…you know if you ever need my help or just to talk or something…"

"I know," he stated, forcing another smile that slowly became genuine as they looked at each other. "Thank you, Tea."

She nodded, squeezing his shoulder once and pulling her hand away while Mai shot him a small glance from the corner of her eye, suspicious to the core and looking extremely unhappy with his performance of nonchalance.

Yugi stared at her until she finally turned away, letting his eyes linger on her skin for a moment before looking towards the clock. It would only be a couple more hours before he could get out of school and finally go home…

The small teen closed his eyes tightly, head spinning with something he already knew to be true but was reluctant to admit. The boy was going to stay his secret. That was how he wanted it, somewhere deep inside of him. He wanted the boy as his own dirty little secret, maybe his burden or his blessing, a curse. His death.

The boy was his. His secret. His pain. His burden. His death. His. His. _His_.

And he knew he wanted it to stay that way, despite the horror and shock that came with the very thought of smothering the boy and keeping him locked in some kind of cage for his own personal amusement and observation. If he was real and could truly effect things outside of his house, his room, the places he frequented so often such as the arcade and the park, then he would be keeping him a secret out of pure desire. If he was something his mind had come up with under the Puzzle's influence, then it was the best course of action he could take in any way. But either way, he wanted the boy to be his and his alone.

* * *

"Hi."

His voice came off soft and light, almost friendly, as he spoke around navigating past the staircase for the door. The other boy did not look at him for a moment before straightening from where he had formerly been seated on the floor playing with a pack of solitaire cards. Yugi was not entirely sure _what _he was doing with them because whatever game he was playing seemed strange and twisted, with dynamics he didn't understand. But they were laid out in front of him, the boy's red eyes staring at them silently, and it looked almost like a visual trap he had put there before them both. Kings and queens and numbers and symbols…

There was no particular order that he could see, cards just seemingly random in their placement. He stared at the ace of hearts for a long minute, blinking before drawing his eyes to the king of clubs. The ends of each card seemed to be overlapping where the ink made indication of its identity, obscuring numbers and letter to make them look almost like a collection of red-and-black-splattered leaves. He blinked as the light from the window made their plastic coating shine, and turned away to drop his backpack at the edge of his bed, taking a seat and falling back against the mattress.

"Hello."

Yugi took a moment, at first believing he was hearing things, and then slowly found himself tilting his head to take in the other's presence. The red-eyed teen's gaze was locked on his face, burning into his with enough heat to make his stomach twist, his skin crawling and his insides squirming with discomfort. He felt like he was being visually dissected as they stared at each other and the other boy finally turned back to the cards scattered on the floor. Yugi had never expected him to respond, sure he would ignore him so that the silence could choke him with a cold, deafening grip. But now, once more, the boy was looking at him, seemingly amused but distracted and bearing an unreadable expression that coated his face and made his eyes darker.

He swallowed hard after a moment, wondering at his reason for appearing here. To come into his room like this without anything like mentally torturing him for a few hours seemed strange and more unnerving than if he had tried to bite him. He wondered if he needed something, but worried about whether it was even possible to give him anything he might need or want.

And, more importantly at that moment, was he meant to attempt further conversation or let it die now while it was still pleasant…?

"What are you doing?"

The red eyes slowly fell away from his face once more, taking in the cards on the floor before folding his legs gracefully and falling into a seated position in front of them. "I don't know yet," he stated, narrowing his eyes faintly and glancing up at him as he swept the cards up without looking. "I like the texture of the cards. They're smooth and crisp."

The answer surprised him but left a small smile on his lips as he looked him over. It was such an odd remark to make and he was unsure of how to respond to it past turning away and closing his eyes as his attention was focused momentarily on the ceiling. "It's a new pack. Eventually, if you play with them enough, you can make them feel worn and broken in."

"This world is full of inconsistencies…changes…"

The wistful note made his eyes open, turning towards him to see a small look of uncertainty and vague sorrow in his red gaze as he looked the cards in his hand over slowly. Yugi was unsure of what that statement meant at its core, especially with the words "this world". What other world was there? He wasn't sure what to make of the comment, growing more and more confused with the thought of there being something else as vast as this world. Then again, he was more or less sure that this boy wasn't human, but that also lent to his confusion as to whether he was even real in the first place or not. What if he really was just a figment of his imagination? If he was, then it was simply the fact that Yugi was acknowledging him in the first place that could lend to the meaning of the words "this world". That was simple enough an explanation but it seemed to fall short no matter how hard Yugi tried to make it seem logical.

But he was also always saying that he had brought him here. And then there was the Puzzle, which Yugi was growing rather sure of being what had brought this boy into existence, whether he was a phantom in his head or an actual being. He still had no idea how he was supposed to take in the other boy's existence or anything pertaining to him, even after having spent long hours after their argument and kisses to sort through it at any rate.

If the Puzzle had brought him out of his mind, what was he meant to do? If the Puzzle was the source of it, did dismembering it mean that it would fix it? Yugi wondered at it but the thought made his stomach clench and he was not sure the consideration put towards that option really did anything for him in the first place. It only made him feel sick and confused and he was getting tired of being that way. His mind was too jumbled, his thoughts too tangled, and it was starting to get tiresome to the point that he wanted to just lay down and curl up in a ball and cease to do anything else.

But if he could send him back, then surely that was what the boy would want, right? He seemed inclined on blaming him for being brought there, for making him come to "this world", so surely a way back would make him happy, right?

Yugi wondered what that kind of thing would entail. How would he even know if it worked in the first place? The boy seemed to disappear and reappear on a whim, never truly appearing to have thought it through aside from messing with him. What if he just wandered off for a few days, Yugi thought he had gotten him out of there again, and then low and behold, he showed up once more? He hardly thought it would be worth the pain of the experience at any rate, especially if his life seemed to go back to normal until it came crashing down because the boy suddenly reappeared to ruin his day.

Was the boy going back worth the possible pain?

"If I wanted to go back, I would have gotten the fucking answer to that by now," the boy snarled softly , turning his head slightly as if he were bowing it, red eyes locked on the cards in his hand as if they held answers neither of them could decipher. For a moment he looked almost small in appearance, jaw slanted downwards and head tipped the tiniest fraction to the side as a nail tapped softly against the paper of one of the playing cards.

Yugi blinked wide eyes, the words connecting slowly as he took in the other's cold expression. "Well then, where did you come from?" he finally muttered, biting his lip and wondering at the Puzzle once more, feeling it grow slightly cold against his abdomen before settling at room temperature once more.

The boy stayed silent for a long minute, finally shaking his head with eyes narrowed into gleaming slits of blood and his jaw clenched hard enough to make the muscles under his skin twitch and jerk. "Doesn't matter."

"Do you know or…?"

"Of course I fucking know, you imbecile. But whether I speak to you about it or not is my choice," he snapped icily, bristling as his head jerked in his direction with eyes that flashed like ice in sunlight. "It is none of your business, brat."

Yugi stayed silent for a moment, fingers reaching out to grasp at the edge of his bed, nails sinking into the almost nonexistent wood of the footboard and pulling himself into a seated position. His muscles ached, tired and strained with the action, and for a moment his head spun with the new arrangement, blinking slowly to get some of his senses realigned. "But you're my business, right?" he murmured quietly, biting his cheek once more and watching as the other teen curled his lips back with a flash of pure hatred and rage burning in his eyes. He couldn't feel the emotion stirring inside of him but the chill in the air had grown violent, ragged and sinking into his skin like sharpened teeth. "I brought you here. So you're my responsibility, right?"

"That doesn't make you my keeper," he spat, vicious and defensive and giving a small hint of fear at the thought. His eyes flashed with a million and one different emotions that Yugi couldn't read to save his life and silence settled over the room for a split second, threatening to choke them both.

"I don't want to be your keeper," Yugi assured him, working to make sure that his voice cut through the silence that now seemed to be weighing the room. He let out a small laugh before shaking his head slowly as those red eyes narrowed suspiciously and his lip curled back in something akin disgust. "I feel like you would murder me if I even attempted it."

"And kill myself in the meantime? No," he snorted dismissively, turning away with a sharp scoff and grabbing the box the cards had been formerly packed inside, aligning them perfectly and pushing them inside.

"You…what does that mean?"

"Nothing."

"What? No, you cannot just say something like that and then not tell me what it means," he objected hotly, blushing when the last card fell into the box with a sharp clicking noise and the teen's fingers tightened to the point that his nails dug into the soft cardboard. He blinked as if incredulously and then turned his head and gave him a sharp glare that made his spine tighten with a mixture of fear and adrenaline.

"It is _nothing_. And you are a fool if you think you will make me talk if I do not wish to."

"So you don't want to talk about it and now it's going to be some kind of taboo subject between us? No, we have to figure out how to work with this and we can't do that if one of us isn't forthcoming with information. You obviously know so much more about all of this than I do so speak to me…"

The other boy tossed the cards onto the desk, the sharp impact making Yugi's ears ring and his head pound as he blinked wide eyes and stared in shock. The entire desk was vibrating for a split second before seemingly settling as the red-eyed teen got to his feet and dusted himself off.

"It might help if you listened when I actually spoke."

"I am listening!" he objected with wide eyes, getting to his feet so that the boy couldn't loom over him though the inch he held at the moment made him feel incredibly small in comparison. He knew so much more than him and he was unwilling to share that knowledge… "I always have been. You frustrate me to the core, and that's why I snap at you. It doesn't mean I'm not listening."

The red eyes rolled in exasperation, making him seem like a teen being chastised by his mother. "If you were truly listening you would already know what I was saying."

"Please talk to me. Explain. Tell me something that you haven't told me already. Make me listen…"

"I do not have anything more to say. I am tired and I do not wish to waste my breath further."

Yugi shook his head, about to try to coax him again, making his voice low and soothing and attempting to drag the information out of him, but his efforts died before he could even truly form them. His eyes had settled on his face, had truly begun to take him in, and what he saw was not something he liked. Bags lined the underside of the red orbs, grown pale with something akin exhaustion and taking on a nasty pinkish hue around the middle of both irises. His shoulders had grown hunched and his frame seemed smaller in that moment, as if he were giving up on something or too tired to fight back, his exhaustion making him tiny where he was normally threatening. Everything about him seemed suddenly reversed, drawn in and closed to him, and it was enough to give him the hint that if he kept pushing, he would get a backlash that could possible sever them more than they already were.

"Okay, that's fine," he finally relented, sighing and nodding while his teeth worked on the inside of his cheeks, tearing at the soft flesh. He looked so much like he had all day at school, the same tired image he had found in the mirror when he had first woken up.

The reality of the idea made him shiver, feeling frayed and more than a little hurt by the whole situation. His chest ached but he couldn't tell if it was for himself or the other boy and trying to figure it out only made his head spin.

"I won't force it out of you."

"Funny. You could not force me to do anything," the red-eyed teen snarled before the statement even got to the fourth word. Yugi shook his head in silent agreement, wondering at the possibility of anyone ever being able to make this seemingly cold-blooded creature do their bidding by force.

A long moment passed in silence and then the other boy moved over to take a seat on his bed as if he had personally patted the comforter in invitation. He looked at home with himself with the action, ignoring Yugi's slightly surprised and incredulous expression, and it only grew as the smaller teen pursed his lips in a tight line of frustration at the action.

"I shouldn't have to tell you everything," he stated suddenly, giving him a cold look and narrowing his eyes into slits. "You should be able to think for yourself without me guiding you by the hand."

"I don't need you to hold my hand or feed me answers," Yugi snapped, blinking at the cruel light that entered the other's gaze for a split second as if he were imagining something in the far back corners of his violent mind. "I don't need anyone to do that. I just think it would help if you would cooperate with me some."

"But why should I make anything easy for you when it is hard for me?" he drawled slowly, mocking laughter biting at the edge of each word and his lips curling into a vicious smirk. "If I had the power to, I would skin you alive and rip your spine out. Just because of the circumstances, I'm not about to become your best friend, _Yugi_."

"Stop saying my name like that!"

"Like _what_?"

"Sneering it like that! Stop doing that," Yugi spat, shaking his head. "You don't hear me doing that to you."

"You don't know my name," the other sneered. "Nor _will_ you ever."

"Fine, keep your name. I don't care anyways," he snapped. "The point is, just stop doing that."

"And if I don't? What will you do about it?"

He wanted to say he would punch him or something along those lines but immediately fell silent, instead moving to fall back into his former position across the mattress with a soft groan. His eyes locked on the sky blue of the ceiling, Yugi ignored him for a long minute and then shrugged slowly.

"As you said, I can't force you." He paused for a moment. "Not that I would if I could."

The other boy's head tilted to the side and he leaned forward, looking at him curiously and making Yugi slowly drag his eyes towards him. "No?"

"No."

"Well why not?"

Yugi nearly laughed at the petulance in the question, as if he were offended that he did not consider him worth the effort it would take. "Because I don't need to," he stated evenly, watching those red eyes narrow into slits of gleaming ruby, the shadows cast by his lashes helping to make his gaze more solid in color and dispelling the pink that lingered there moments before. "You'll talk when you want to."

"And how do you know I ever will?" he snarled quietly, a furious edge creeping into his tone and making Yugi smile in amusement.

"I don't. But I can hope, right?"

"Seems like something that would be useless to hope for."

Yugi sighed and shook his head but didn't argue, instead blinking and then closing his eyes completely, smiling a little wider. This boy was quickly becoming far more stubborn than even Joey when he wanted food and the rest of the group wasn't hungry. The blond was known for digging his heels in and arguing and even resorting to whining and snapping at them until they gave in. But this boy, with his nasty tone and his biting words and general overall posture, made him look like a novice.

"You fight so hard sometimes. I don't get it," he admitted, peeking an eye open and peering at him curiously to find him scowling and curling his lip back as if he had just threatened to strike him. "Am I really that big a threat to you?"

"Yes."

He opened his eyes fully, turning his head and staring for a long moment, remembering vaguely the other boy saying that he was his _only _threat. The idea made his stomach twist violently as he shivered and shook his head slightly, ignoring the cold glint of hatred that burned in the other's eyes. He didn't understand the statement but he supposed that maybe if he had brought him here then he could definitely do more. The thought of having that kind of power was honestly horrifying, and he wanted nothing more than an explanation, but he knew there was nothing more he could say to make him open up further.

He could already see him digging in his heels, bracing himself for the questions, his jaw clenching and the muscles twitching, his shoulders rising, eyes burning defiantly, his entire posture turning predatory. He would sooner lash out and possibly hurt himself than he would speak and give him answers in any way.

"I'm sorry."

A long minute passed and Yugi could see his face twisting up in confusion, incredulous and growing a little upset as he stared at him, his eyes burning into his skin and making his shiver once more.

"For _what_?" he finally snapped angrily.

"Making you feel threatened."

The boy threw his head back, laughing loudly, and then fell back against the mattress, glancing at his surprised expression and howling. "Oh, you are a stupid boy, aren't you?" he snickered, shaking his head. "You're not sorry. You won't be sorry until I _make_ you sorry."

Yugi smiled at the statement, finding awkward amusement and a sense of satisfying relief in the fact that he did not even attempt to hide his disgust and hatred as someone else might have. The very fact that he wore such coldness without even pretending to be otherwise or allowing him to entertain the thought of friendship was oddly refreshing. He was happy that the other was not pretending that he would have a place as something other than a disturbance in his life. He was clearly not one for falsities and comfort that he did not care to offer, nor one to accept the emotion when offered. He had to respect him for that, if for nothing else aside from his blatant dismissal of consideration towards his feelings.

If he got the chance, he would tear him to pieces.

And he was not going to pretend otherwise.

Yugi graced him with another small smile, receiving a nasty soundless sneer, and closed his eyes as he settled into the mattress more firmly. He liked the fact that the boy at least warned him that he would kill him if he got the chance. He enjoyed the fact that he was not even pretending that something else would happen or trying to stab him in the back.

He was in this situation for one reason and one reason only, and he was not afraid to make it clear to him.

He would kill him when he was able to and Yugi would have no chance of stopping him.


	8. Chapter VIII

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Warning: Cursing should be relatively mild but sometimes grows a little more at times, Season 0 Yami...and he's a little more unhinged than usual, so keep that in mind**.

**Note: There are mentions of blood, some graphic images of death, sensual moments and feelings, touches of violence/abuse**

**Update Schedule: I'm going to try for bi-weekly updates**

**Writing Note: I'm trying a new, more descriptive style for a story I plan to write later so tell me how I did with it?**

**Anyways, the story is a way to help get rid of some writer's block I'm dealing with so it's serving as a style-trial and a way to get back into writing.**

**WARNING! PART OF THIS HAS SOME VIOLENCE AND BLOODSHED! AND SOME...RATHER GRAPHIC DETAILS WITH SOMETHING (I got carried away for a moment but it explains what Yami did to Ushio AND also gives you an idea of how nasty his personality gets but if you want to skip the description and just read the dialogue, then feel safe to—I think it will work out well enough if you skip the first part aside from dialogue if you feel like you don't want to read the violence/bloodshed)! And you learn some more about Yami, so there's that too...**

* * *

Chapter VIII

Yugi had not seen him in over a week, the days seeming to have grown so dragged out and long that it was impossible for him not to know every second of it. He had fallen back into his daily patterns—wake up, brush teeth, shower, get dressed, check backpack, eat, brush teeth again, walk to school with friends—and had found himself reluctant to go anywhere near the places he had formerly seen the boy. Unfortunately that also included his room and often times he found himself hesitating at the door and feeling sick with the thought of walking inside. The routines he had fallen into had grown so forced that he had no way of arguing the absolution to the assessment and it drove him crazy to focus on it.

He had fallen into some kind of neutral bubble of half-emotion once more that kept him calm and made things easier but now that he knew of the other boy's existence, he was desperate for him to come back. It was as if he were missing something and he craved the pain, the emotion that hit him at almost tenfold the strength it would have otherwise, the blood that he could see in his dreams and the other's dark eyes, the uncertainty that came with his presence. He missed the feeling of standing precariously close to an edge that offered brutality and _life _whereas this felt dangerously like a numb perception of death that made him long for pain.

The small teen turned the corner to start towards home, having spent the day with the group at the arcade, beating high scores that Joey claimed were impossible to. After several hours of playing games without much of a break aside from drinking soda, his head felt a little light and his eyes were sore from the glare of the screens. And he had no idea if the ringing in his ears was a warning or if it was simply from the tunes that had beaten the air as he had played those games.

The alarm went off in his head now, shrill and screaming loud enough to make his spine stiffen in horror, spinning around only to be thrust against the wall by a hand around his throat. Yugi blinked wide eyes, for a moment seeing bright white bursts of pain behind his corneas, before his vision focused reluctantly. For a split second dark red eyes blazed, glaring at him, and lips were drawn back into a snarl that was quickly growing far too familiar, but the moment his voice began to lift in a relieved greeting towards the other boy, his mind sprang forward with realization. He blinked again, though his eyes for a moment refused to provide him anything other than the red-eyed boy's face before him, and his heart raced. His throat was held by the beefy grip of a strong, firm, sweaty palm that squeezed and brought flashes of light to the back of his eyes again.

"Yugi Motou, about time I got my hands on you again. I was starting to think I would never get to pay you back."

He recognized the voice but the message it delivered made no sense to him, a statement that made him try harder to focus. The boy's face twisted but wavered slowly but surely, the features changing horribly to grow broader along the jaw. His eyes grew beady and dark, narrowed rather than sharp like carved rubies, and his hair grew flatter, with gravity weighing it down.

Dread crept down his spine and left him frozen, his heart skipping and faltering as he breathed in roughly and swallowed hard. He could feel blood blooming along the back of his skull from the impact now, hot and sticky, but there was nothing serious beyond slight disorientation in his sight.

By the gods…

Ushio.

Yugi gagged at the massive scar across his left eye, the way that the pupil was displaced with a thoroughly unfocused look, the sharp iris like that of a marble and completely unlike the other. For a moment his mind could not pinpoint what it was exactly that he was seeing. The entire situation made no sense to him, his thoughts jumbling for a split second before he slowly wrapped his head around it and his mind supplied the answer.

His eye had to have been gouged out—as the scar could possibly suggest, because it looked like nails had ripped through the flesh of his eyebrow and all around the lid. He could see it stripped raw and unable to be healed properly from the tearing, and he nearly gagged when he saw the pink where it met the bridge of his nose. It appeared to have been ripped out completely, as if torn with claws and burned with a match, scorched dark black like a child that had stuck too much kohl on it while trying to apply makeup. He thought that perhaps whoever had done it had mutilated it and the doctors had given him something to replace it, to make it seem more natural to someone taking it in…

"You cost me an eye, you little bastard."

He shook his head slowly, confused and horrified as he continued staring at the disgusting sight. "I never did anything to your eye—"

Yugi fought back a strangled scream at the squeeze that greeted his throat at the words, eyes nearly popping out of his head with the force of it. His instincts roared in his head, his hand lashing out to strike him across the temple while his other went for his throat in retaliation. His leg kicked violently, striking his shin viciously, but the blow did nothing to deter his efforts and produced nothing but a snicker of amusement. He struggled, trying to push him off to make a run for it but failed miserably with the inability to produce the force needed to shove such a massive body away from his. He did not have that much strength in the first place, let alone enough to put a dent in Ushio's opposing frame in front of him.

No, he was going to end up dead long before anything like the adrenaline rush would be supplied to push him away…

A sharp, loud cracking noise echoed through the alleyway, making his head ring. Ushio screamed as the sound of flesh tearing hit his ears. Something sharp and slender had gouged itself into the muscular teen's neck. He could see his muscles cording violently, trying in sporadic jerks to expel it. But he could not make it out at first. He slumped as he was released, his balance thrown off from the impact with the wall. Lights flashed behind his eyes briefly and he reached up to touch the broken flesh through his hair. The sticky liquid burned like fire against his skin and left him trembling briefly before his eyes focused again. Ushio had raised his hand to cover his neck, though he did nothing to block away the blood that was spilling in rivulets like a spewing volcano. Yugi watched as he was thrown backwards with a sharp kick to the ribs.

The sound of breaking bones made him flinch violently. Stars burst behind his eyes with the sharp movement and a whimper bubbled up in his throat. His vision split and then centered immediately at the sound of a soft snarl of amused annoyance. His eyes focused on the hand that he could see soaked in blood. Droplets fell against the pavement, begging for his attention, but he found himself instead focused completely on that slender appendage. He was not holding anything. Had he dropped the weapon? He nearly lowered his eyes to the ground before he realized it.

He leaned forward and coughed violently, shaking with the force of the movement, the way his throat protested the action with vicious flares of pain. Yugi struggled to his feet, stumbling, and grasped at the brick to keep from tumbling over when he wretched loudly.

The boy had shoved his fingers through his flesh…

He shivered and glanced up through his lashes, unsure of if it was a trick of the light that produced the concerned look that marred the other teen's face for a brief moment. Their eyes locked for a split second and the other boy's lips curled up into a wide, vicious smirk that made him shiver. His attention was back on the largest of the three of them and Yugi wondered briefly if the other boy felt the throbbing in his head like he did. Blinking, his eyes sported momentarily patches of white that made his head throb more forcefully, and his fingers wandered back to inspect the wound.

It seemed to have stopped bleeding already, though his fingers were still painted dark red in the low light. Something cracked and shattered in front of him and he shuddered at the residual noise that seemed to echo around him. He didn't open his eyes for a moment, unsure of what to do, but another splitting bone made his gaze snap towards the boy who had come to help him.

Only his fingers were covered in blood, but he could see that Ushio was in extreme pain as he struggled to his feet. His protector—for the moment, as he was sure he would turn on him the first chance he got—watched him with a somewhat disinterested expression. His red eyes glinted like the blood on his fingers and as the former disciplinary committee leader got to his feet, they sharpened. Yugi watched him pivot sharply, his leg coming out and catching Ushio across the shoulder in one fluid motion. The larger boy toppled to the ground, crying out loudly in pain, but did not get to his feet again.

Yugi watched him as he started forward silently, eyes flashing glowing as the darkness seemed to grow deeper around them. He struggled to find his balance and straighten his back, eyes growing wide.

His protector got to his prey, kicking him over onto his back mercilessly. His look-alike took the lack of resistance as a green light. He loomed over him and pressed his left foot into the center of his stomach. Hands grasped the arm that had held his throat moments before. The sound of ripping clothing made Yugi flinch. Ushio screamed and he caught the sound of bones grinding and popping out of place. The foot in his stomach pressed more firmly and a low chuckle bubbled upwards.

He could see the clear tear of the former disciplinary committee leader's uniform where his arm had been ripped from its socket. The blood in his throat was…welling outwards…towards his sneakers…

Yugi blinked and then stared, trying to make sense of the situation. Looming over him, the boy's face was twisted into a sneer. His teeth were bared and his eyes were glowing ferociously, a malicious gleam lighting them that would have made the devil cringe. There were too many emotions in the air, charging it and making it hard to focus, to the point that he could not make heads or tails of anything. It had grown overwhelming and terrible, the frustration focused and seething under his skin…

For a moment silence made his pulse that much harsher in his ears and his balance felt shaky. His vision exploded momentarily with bursts of white hot pain and his head throbbed. A groan bubbled up out of his throat before he could think about it but neither of the other two occupants took notice. Instead his taller counterpart merely tilted his head and his lips curled upwards into a smirk.

"I thought that perhaps my warning was sufficient enough that you would leave him _alone_," he snarled softly, chuckling under his breath as his lips pulled back further and his teeth came out sharper, glistening. Yugi thought of wild canines, with sharp teeth long and glistening with saliva, bared in battle and opening to shred skin like a sword cutting paper. "I guess maybe I didn't do well enough…"

Yugi blinked again and almost missed it when his look-alike moved to press his foot into the other's throat. A soft purr welled up as the blood began to seep out faster. His eyes fell slightly towards the shoes for a split second, his mind groggy with the actuality of the situation.

There was too much noise in his ears. One second he thought he heard screaming and then yelling. Then there were crackles of lightning, the distant roar of rumbling thunder. The area around him was too chaotically charged and the shadows were moving, stretching, dancing, flaring, howling and laughing. The noise was only growing louder, the area around them darkening…

"Stop."

The fuzz that seemed to have been bordering the edges of his vision cleared immediately. Eyes locked with those of the other boy's, his sight seemed almost ten times as great as it had been formerly. He could see everything in the darkness around them, the way the shadows stirred almost as if in confusion towards his statement. He could see the very grains of asphalt, the small shadows amongst the dark material, the threads that had split where Ushio's shoulder had become displaced. And he could make out the very contours of the other's hand where it was posed to tear into him further, every pore on his fingers that had become coated in blood.

The harsh throb in the back of his skull dulled to a low, distant thrum of pain but did not disappear altogether. The roar of blood in his ears was dispelled to nonexistence, and his mind cleared for a split second. However, the thoughts in his head were not his own, colored bright red with spilled blood and Ushio's screams like a distant memory.

Yugi blinked slowly, confused by the sudden height that his eyesight had taken on before he realized something. In the back of his mind, he could see himself as well. It was distant, clouded, as if he were trying to stare through frosted glass. His frame was tiny, wounded, but he could see every thread of his clothing, every strand of hair, every tiny fleck of color that made up his beautiful irises.

He was sharing the other boy's senses, he realized slowly. His eyes were so keen in the darkness that it was almost as if he were in broad daylight and his vision magnified to a thousand times the power it would have held otherwise. His focus was on the intent of spilling blood, nothing else quite registering with his quickened mind, and his amusement had grown threadbare with this hesitation.

But he was still waiting, and Yugi momentarily was confused as to what was happening. He was staring, red eyes taking on a brighter gleam as they glowed in the deepening darkness, and the fire in his gaze showed specks of curiosity. Had he spoken at some point? Yugi could not tell as he continued staring at the other boy, amazed by the way he could actually _see _the way his pupils had become nothing more than the tiniest of dots in the center of both irises. His irises had stretched out almost like a bright red lens, taking over every bit of white in his eyes but shining that much lighter there because of their genetic makeup. He wondered vaguely if—if not for those whites—his eyes would be one solid of deep, glowing red rather than bordered with that brighter shade.

"Stop."

He snorted dismissively, turning away, severing the connection. The blood returned to his ears in faint pounding, as if he had wandered away from the drum that had been being beaten nearby. The focus of his vision grew slightly fuzzy but still strong, far keener than it had been formerly, and the ache in his head was all but gone completely. His veins grew warmer with the passage of blood which seemed to have paused at some point before.

"Go home."

Yugi blinked and frowned, unsure of if he was telling him to relax or truly dismissing him completely so that he would not be there to witness his murder of the massive boy. But didn't that make him his murderer as well if he turned his back on the scene before him like the boy was proposing?

"Come with me," he stated, taking a step forward and feeling oddly secure in his formerly wobbly balance as the boy's eyes narrowed and his irises focused on him from the corner of his gaze.

"Go home."

"Come with me."

"Get out of here."

"No. Come with me or I'm staying here."

"Why should I wish to stop? I desire his blood and you would be better off without him," he murmured, voice dripping with a seductive edge that made Yugi blink as his mind began drowning for a moment. A euphoric pleasure crept through his veins as he studied him, reminding him of times spent in the dark or with the other boy before him. The lilt in his tone made his thoughts stop altogether, sluggish as they tried to combat the comment. The words weaved their way through his mind like a viper, curling around his senses, and that euphoric pleasure grew tenfold as the other boy finally turned his head fully and spoke in a soft voice. "So much better, do you not agree, Yugi?"

He was desperate to nod but something held him back, the viper pausing in his mind and seemingly hitting a wall of resistance. His thoughts still did not resume but his eyes slowly flickered down at the senior. He held his life in his hands, such a fragile little gift that he could break at any moment, and the boy's voice, sinful and warm, coaxing, swept through him once more. Realization began to dawn in the oldest boy's eye, horror seeping into his expression and making his face pale as he too came to the idea that Yugi could be his savior or his killer.

His eyes flickered towards the other boy's whose lips curled upwards, nodding eagerly once and showing all of his teeth in pleasure. The viper in his mind slithered once more, repeating his words in that soft, seductive tone that made his veins warm. But reality slapped him across the face as well, the spell undone by the excitement in the other's face, the terror in Ushio's.

"Don't."

His lips curled back completely, voice sharp and splitting his mind in half as his sense of equilibrium was thrown aside. The force of his words alone made his legs wobble, but the pain in his head, the way he lashed out at him to shatter any attempt of keeping him out, made him want to fall to his knees. "Go play victim with someone else!" he snarled viciously, losing all attempts at seducing him into agreement. His eyes flashed, turning to Ushio now as his lips curved into a wide smirk once more. The oldest screamed loudly, the noise choked and gurgled when his weight was pressed more firmly into the foot against the other's throat. "You may either leave me to my wishes or you shall witness me kill him. Either way, blood lies upon your hands, I suppose. It just might be easier for you to deal if you are not there to witness it spilled."

"Not on my hands. On yours," Yugi snapped, bristling faintly but feeling slightly dizzy as the pain began to recede in his head.

"Are you truly so disillusioned?" he spat, spinning on him with a wild look that made his pupils expand to become a swirling mess of darkness against the spilled blood. He watched the two colors dance, gleaming and twisting, writhing as he lowered his voice angrily. "Do you still not understand? I thought maybe you would understand with some distance."

"No, I don't understand," Yugi snapped, a little startled by the angry desperation that came out with those four little words. "I do not and I never have. Just leave him alone and come back with me."

A sharp bark of laughter and a flare of fire in his mind made him flinch. "And why should I ever wish to do that?"

"Because I don't want you to crush his throat! Stop it!"

"Does it look like I give a _damn _as to what you want? Personally, I have been waiting to get my hands dirty for quite a while now. This disgusting piece of shit is just what I needed to play judgment," he purred, turning his head with eyes that widened in delight at the thought. His smirk pulled wider to give it a jagged appearance, an illusion in the darkness that made Yugi think of a jack-o-lantern on Halloween, carved to give it a demon's smile. "It just so happens that him threatening you yet again puts him in my domain. He has trespassed a second time and this is his payment."

"You don't get to play god. That's no one's right!" Yugi snarled viciously, blood pounding in his ears violently now. Heat crept through his skin, crawling up his back, and sweat began to bead along his throat for a split second. A strand of something like bitter loneliness crept through him suddenly, charged to new heights and nearly leaving him breathless before it dissipated slowly. "You do not get to make a call like that."

"I _am _a god!" he spat, spinning on him with wild eyes. Yugi could see spirals of life and death in his eyes, visions swirling through that furious gaze. "I have always _been _one. I have merely been stripped to this body and forced to this world. And you have no idea the pain you bring me by keeping me here!"

He shook his head slowly, confused and hurting, something breaking inside of him as he stared at the other boy. He was unsure of if it was truly him that had felt the split or if it was the other but it did nothing to make him reconsider his words as he spoke again. "You are not a god.'

"I am. Pushed and molded into this disgustingly human body, but I still am one."

"No god is this cruel! Why the hell would you do this?"

"I do as I wish because I can. Have you never witnessed the birth of history? Death, death, chaos, anarchy, _blood_…" He shook his head, baring his teeth and sneering in amusement at Yugi's horrified expression. "I will spill as much blood as I feel will cure my hunger. Do you not understand?"

"If you were truly a god, you would have no need to rely on _me_," Yugi snarled back, feeling his body go rigid with sudden understanding, blinking in shock; his domain, the boy's domain… He had brought him here and he had some kind of control over him. Or maybe it was shared between them, but it was still there and it bound them together so completely. Whatever it was that he had done to bring him here had bound them together and left them almost inseparable… "I can control you."

"Cute that you think so. But that assumption is wrong." He paused for only a moment, pressing his boot harder into his throat to make him struggle faintly before turning back. "I will kill whether or not you decide to deem me with your approval."

"You are not allowed to kill without reason! Think about it—you just said that your domain resides with _me_. It means someone has to be a threat to _me_!"

The boy gave him a bored, skeptical look. "And you do not consider him that?"

"I would never forgive you if you killed him."

"Do you honestly think that I give one flying fuck about your 'forgiveness'?" he sneered angrily, once again pressing his weight into his throat to make Ushio scream. He watched the blood welling up, internal and external, lapping at his shoes, begging to seep into his skin, to stain him like nicotine…

"Please, stop!" he breathed out, eyes nearly bugging out of his head as his gaze snapped to the other boy's to find him merely staring in response. His foot eased slightly and Ushio breathed roughly, the blood in his throat making the sound a raspy gargle that made Yugi tremble briefly. His dilated gaze locked with the bored one of his look-alike's and his stomach clenched as they watched each other impassively for a moment.

"Tell me, Yugi, who would care should I kill him?" he asked slowly, narrowing his eyes in challenge, and the smaller boy shook momentarily before straightening to his full height and raising his chin.

Already another tremor began to build beneath his bones, begging for release, but he suppressed it in order to breathe roughly. "His family," he stated immediately, pausing when he forced out a brittle but firm statement. "Me. I would care too."

"Fool," the other sneered, laughter bubbling out immediately as he fixed him with a hatred that made his body feel as if it was burning. "Killing has nothing to do with another's emotions, you foolish boy. Claiming that you will never forgive me, thinking that that will restrain me, saying that you give a shit about his family and how it will affect them? That is as effective as telling me that trees are tall, that the wind blows, that a mountain is hard to climb. I can calculate the height, I can feel and determine the direction the wind comes in, and I can agree with the statement. But doing so will _never _change the way in which I live my life."

Yugi stared at him, about to demand to know how one could be so terribly callous, but found himself stumbling; the boy would not give a single shit if he did so. He was death and power personified, a predator and a killer, and he was merely lucky that somehow his life depended on him because it made him matter to the other boy. It made him have to protect him, it brought him out to deal with threats, and it made him important to his survival. But the rest of the world could be purged and destroyed and he would not care. He would not blink an eye. Not once would he look back and think or say that he was sorry about it. He was—if he was to be believed—a god and a creature that powerful would have no reason to think of humanity despite the shell he existed in.

"Tell me, little game, because you have such a big heart and feel so _deeply_," the boy drawled, an amused purr filtering its way through the air and making his insides both cold and warm at once, "since you have chosen to put yourself in his family's shoes to try to make me show mercy, do you love him?"

Yugi sputtered and stared at him in disgust, entire face growing into a mask of distinct fury and disdain, and the other boy burst out laughing in amusement.

"See? His death would do nothing to harm you because other than that obvious hatred you feel for him, there is nothing that would affect you."

"That's not—"

"Oh, but would it change the way you live your life, Yugi? Would it make you strive to better yourself? Or would it be something that affected you in the moment that it happened, made you think and worry, and then disappeared as if it had never occurred?" the boy continued, red eyes burning.

He bit his tongue immediately to keep from screaming in frustration because, despite it all, the boy was right. It would not change his life in the least when it came down to it. It would shock him and it would leave him wondering, maybe a little obsessed with the idea that someone had been killed, but it would not be so monumental and centered around him to change his life. It would not push him to discover what had happened because it probably would not have a true bearing on him or his life beyond the lack of a bully and a name no longer being called to take role in class…

But hell no, he was not about to tell him that.

Yugi found his eyes widening momentarily as they locked with the other's, stomach twisting with shame and embarrassment. He had forgotten that he could hear him thinking about it, debating it…

"See? You would think the same as me. A waste of time and energy."

His leering tone made him feel heat crawl through him, horrified by the very realization that he was right. He might not think the exact same in terms of time and energy, but he would still be rather dismissive of it after a small amount of time.

"You do not love him. You do not care. You simply do not want to have me kill him because you would know it was me that had done it. And who would believe you if you were to tell?" he snarled, laughing loudly and making his eyes glitter as Yugi stared at him blankly. "And let me remind you, boy, for you seem to be terribly disillusioned. Some people _cannot _change. Some of them have their paths laid in darkness and destruction and death. You think that a serial killer can suddenly be reformed? Let me tell you now that no matter the chances given, it would never happen. You think that a person obsessed with themselves will suddenly fall in love and tend to their partner? No, you pathetic boy. That would never happen. Because humans are not made that way. And you are a fool to think that."

He fell away for a moment of silence, eyes shining with laughter, and then his gaze flickered momentarily to the massive boy beneath him. Eyes narrowed into slits, the boy turned back with a wide smirk, lips curled upwards like a jeering animal.

"Tell me you love him, little game. Tell me you love him and say it with meaning," he laughed in delight. "Say it with sincerity that I will _feel _within your soul and I will release him, Yugi. Just say those three words and prove me wrong."

It seemed like such a simple task but his entire body rebelled against the idea and the boy knew it. His stomach churned and hatred flared in his veins, though he knew immediately who it was directed towards.

"I do not hear you, Yugi. Where was that righteousness you thought to throw at me moments ago? Is it all gone already? I thought for sure that you would make an effort. But you must agree with me then. A waste of time and energy."

Ushio gargled again and the boy laughed as he turned back to him.

"Is there _nothing_ sacred to you?" he finally spat, feeling sick to his stomach as the irreverence shook him to the core. The statement made interest spark momentarily in the other's eyes, his head turning fully to face him once more, voice low and curious.

"What? Like another god?"

Yugi blinked; that wasn't exactly what he was going for but he could make it work. "Yes. Like a foundation for good behavior—a moral code. Do you believe in _anything_?" he asked slowly, narrowing his eyes.

"I am a god. I believe in determining my own moral code."

_Well, there is something to work with then…_

"What about punishment?"

"Punishment?"

"Like rewarding or punishing behavior." He flinched when he heard Ushio gargle again; he was losing time. Eventually the red-eyed teen was going to get bored with making conversation with him and then Ushio was going to have his entire throat crushed… "Something that makes you truly_ desire _to be good."

"There is no heaven or hell and I see no reason to follow the laws of man or your god when our fate is the same regardless of our actions. We will all die eventually, Yugi. Some just take longer than others and the circumstances of being dragged through the mud are different." He paused and turned his head back towards his prey, purring loudly and pressing his weight once more, eyes lighting up in amusement at the sensation. "And I should tell you that the truly righteous never have nor will they ever exist. And if they were ever to be given form among _mortals_, they would envy the damned."

Yugi blinked and shook his head slightly, glancing at Ushio and wondering vaguely if he even deserved to live in the first place. He had heard rumors about him raping young girls when he was only eight, picking girls who were about two to three years younger than him. He had grown up beating people to get to the top and he was pretty sure that ritual that went on when he was younger in middle school still happened. He still remembered the first time he had seen the drawn chalk outline and the pair of little girl underwear in the center of the entranceway to the school…where that little girl had committed suicide after Ushio had raped in her in the quad…

"He's scum, yes, but that does not mean that he has to die for it," Yugi muttered, more to himself than the other boy and feeling his eyes bore into his skull as he spun on him with a shaken expression. "Please, just come back to the house with me and we can try to work something out."

"…Work something out?" he drawled, voice taking on a cynical note, turning his head and staring at him with a look of pure rage and hatred. His eyes flashed, lips curling back to bare his teeth. "You really think that I should wish to 'working something out'? I have blood to be spilled, not time to be played with so foolishly. And you most certainly are not going to play with me for much longer. I will not be the idiot to stay with you and allow you to cage him like a tamed animal."

"I don't want to contain you," he stated slowly, shaking his head and blinking; no, he did not want to try to capture and hold him hostage. He did not want to keep him like that. He wanted to keep him for something else, but to speculate and contain and hold him down was not it. He wasn't entirely certain why he wanted him to remain his for though he did know the aspect of secrecy reared its ugly head immediately, and he did know that he needed him, need to give to and take from him… "I don't ever want to contain you."

The red-eyed boy gave him a bored look and then jerked Ushio's arm further, making the threads in his jacket tear once more. The senior screamed and his attacker purred at the sound of the blood that escaped, the way that it drizzled down the side of his mouth. _Perfect_.

"Yes, well, I do not wish to go with you, regardless."

"Please. I don't want to watch you kill someone," Yugi pleaded softly, praying that somehow he would reach him for once because he was definitely failing horribly at that moment.

"Then you should leave."

"No, I don't want to leave you here either."

He gave him a bored look and straightened some, pulling his foot away momentarily to aim for his ribs now. "Then stay, it makes little difference to me, but know that with your choice you forfeit all rights to complain of your situation, boy."

Yugi opened his mouth just as the boy spun and bared his teeth, snarling as he lurched sideways. His red eyes narrowed and his mouth curled back to show off each of his teeth. Yugi lunged forward to tackle him. Ushio's arm came up to attempt to swat him aside like a bug but missed. He hit the boy hard enough to send them rolling. The boy snarled in his grip and Yugi could hear the knife as it flew past his ear.

The boy threw him off violently, a yowl of hatred coming from his mouth. Yugi hit the ground with a yelp, picking his cheek off the asphalt immediately to rub the aching reddened flesh. The red-eyed boy snarled angrily, starting to get to his feet like a predator that had been struck down momentarily, but Ushio had already regained his balance. The massive teen doubled over, coughing up blood and spitting before he ran, and both of them watched as he fled. The smaller of them breathed harshly, as if he had just participated in a marathon, and lowered his eyes to the other, shaking when he saw the blood seeping through the other's fingers.

"I wasn't aware that gods could bleed," he quipped, hands shaking as he reached over to try to pull his hand away and check on the wound. The boy knocked his head to the side with a smack that made his ears ring and he nearly fell over with the impact. He grunted at the pain while the other glared at him furiously from his spot on the floor. Yugi straightened as he got to his feet, attempting once more to get a sight of it only to have himself thrown with the blow to his head once more. He staggered a couple of steps, eyes wide and lights exploding behind his vision, but turned his attention back to him again. "Let me see it."

"Fuck you," the other snarled viciously, swatting him again and not even once flinching at the pain Yugi knew the other felt with each impact. Hell, his own left hand was starting to tingle from the force he put into the multiple backhands. His legs felt weak as he straightened again and glared at him in response, both of them furiously breathing hard and scowling. He stepped forward and the red-eyed boy took a different strategy this time, catching him by the collar of his shirt and then shoving him away violently. Yugi hit the ground hard on his ass, eyes wide as they stared at each other. "You—you _let _him do this!"

"I did not let him do _anything_! In fact, I think I let _you _nearly crush his neck, didn't I?" he snapped, moving closer to him and trying again to pull his hand away and see it. He got pushed away by the shoulder this time, with enough force to nearly wrench his arm out of its socket. But the sight of his effort put into that shove was enough to make his mind thrum with the realization that the other teen was making no move to get up again. "How badly did he get you?"

He scoffed quietly but did not respond beyond that, instead turning away again.

"How _badly_ did he_ stab _you?" Yugi growled from between his teeth, glaring at him. He was well aware that if he kept trying to get his hand away to see, he was only going to be met with resistance that he would be unable to combat. His stubbornness seemed to be fueling the other's as well, and trying harder would only make him lash out once more. He shook his head at himself, frustrated, but realized that perhaps he could make the other boy work with him for the most part. He was in pain, after all, and that ache could be easily fixed if he would just participate with him. "I can help—"

"Oh yes," the other drawled, turning his head and laughing sardonically, teeth flashing in the dim light and making his eyes glow with hatred. "Because I need _your _help, right?"

"Uh, yes, actually, you do. Do you see your side? I know that you're bleeding—it's all over you fingers. Can't you just freaking tell me how deep it is and let me get you back to the house and then I can bandage it—?"

"And is there an actual reason why I should choose to trust you? You are the one who _imprisoned _me here, you brat. You are the one who trapped me in such a pathetic form. I bleed now—and it's not drawn by my _own hand_. I _bleed_. I have never bled before."

Yugi stared at him for a moment before shaking his head slowly. "Please, I want to make sure that you're okay. I…" He paused and thought his words over carefully because the other teen looked ready to bite his head off at any moment. His eyes were flashing with keen hatred and power, looking for weakness. His jaw was clenched but he knew it would take only a mere thought for him to lunge forward and sink his teeth in his throat. And his shoulders had risen, pronouncing his bristle and defensive status. "Listen, you said it yourself that we need each other, right? Which means that we should work together."

"I want to rip your throat out. Would you work with me to do that?"

Yugi bit his lip and then laughed, once more amazed by his unapologetic, confrontational voice, smiling as he shook his head and stood over him. "No, but if you get up now we can get you back home"—the boy's eyes widened in confusion while the smaller teen ignored the look and the strange sensation of unfamiliarity that made his stomach lurch—"to bandage that. We don't want you to bleed out or something, right?"

"…Bleed out?"

He blinked and stared at him for a moment, honestly expecting somewhere deep inside of him that he was joking with that question. But even in the strained light he could see the confusion and it lapped at his insides as he reached his hand out for his free one, waiting. "It's where you die from loss of blood," he explained quietly, frowning and waiting some more while the boy eyed his hand and then looked at him again. Yugi ignored the way his stomach twisted violently at the realization that both of his hands were covered in blood, both his and Ushio's. "I am going to pull you to your feet. Can you grab my hand so I can do that or are you really going to be that difficult?

It was only after the words left his mouth that he realized the boy was honestly lost as far as the situation went. He didn't even know what bleeding out meant or what his hand was doing in front of him. He was, for all intents and purposes, lost and floundering in a world that he did not entirely know how to navigate.

Or perhaps it was the human interactions that he failed to understand. Because he was far too dangerous to be defenseless and he had made it completely on his own for the last week as it was. And if he truly did not know what human interactions meant and had all of that power, did that truly make him a god? Or was he something that had come from the Puzzle?

"Where did you _come _from?" he muttered before he could think it through, surprised when the other boy merely scoffed and then grasped his hand. Yugi braced himself and then grabbed his arm, making sure to avoid his wrist, and pulled him to his feet. His eyes widened, surprised, as he pulled him to his feet with him, startled by the amount of weight he seemed to possess where he normally lacked.

"I fail to see where that concerns you in any way," he snapped fiercely; twenty minutes of silence and ignoring him when Yugi attempted to prod at his wound, he was seated at the kitchen table. The red-eyed teen ignored him, still holding his wound, as the smaller went about digging through the cabinets for a first-aid kit. He turned his head, looking up, when Yugi let out a triumphant noise and then hurried over, digging through the little box, grabbing a spray and some gauze while pulling out a couple of rolls of white tape.

"Okay, lift your shirt."

The other teen bared his teeth, voice sharp and full of hatred. "Why the hell should I do that?" he demanded, narrowing his eyes into slits while Yugi awkwardly blinked and raised his gaze to his from where he was looking at his hand.

"So I can get to see the wound and clean it," he explained, frowning faintly when he saw the way his eyes went from sharp to wide and confused.

"_Clean _it?" he echoed, blinking and making Yugi stare at him for a moment before squeezing his eyes shut tightly; how was he supposed to do this exactly? How was he supposed to help if he did not understand _anything _aside from his own assumptions about the smaller teen? How was he supposed to reach him if he thought that he had brought him here and bound him as if he had purposely cursed him and brought him there to bleed him dry?

"So that it doesn't get infected," he stated quietly, though the very edge of the statement sounded like a question.

"_Infected_?"

Yugi nearly banged his forehead against the table but knew for a fact that he would only offend and startle the boy he was trying to help. If it were anything less serious, he would not mind taking the time to explain everything to him if he cared to learn it. But now it was hard to try attempting it with the anxiety that was beginning to course through his veins.

"Please, just life your shirt."

He wasn't sure if it was the begging tone or if it was his desperation that seemed to push into the other boy unconsciously, but finally he pulled his shirt up to expose the wound to him. He squeezed his eyes shut momentarily, slightly undone by the sight of the torn flesh and the blood that was continuing to come out of the split skin. He bit back a cringe as he opened his eyes again and focused on it, not the least bit squeamish around blood but feeling desperate to work on his wound now.

"Does your side not hurt?" the other boy finally snarled after a long minute of him taking in the separated flesh. He looked like he might need stitches but Yugi had no idea how to do that, though he had often cleaned blood off his clothes and done other things to keep his bullying a secret. But regardless, he was sure that he could probably look it up…

"I've been more focused on you than I have myself," Yugi explained quietly, shaking his head slightly and frowning as he reached out to touch it. The other boy snarled softly and his skin twitched but he did not push him away as Yugi opened it slightly further to peer inside. It looked pretty deep and a small ache hit his insides as he continued for a split second before pulling his hands away again. "If I focus hard enough, I can ignore it when I'm hurting."

The other stayed silent for a moment and then a distant wonder crept into his voice. "Is that healthy?" he asked slowly; Yugi could see images of little kids crying over wounds and elders complaining bitterly about wounds in his mind as the words dwindled off into nothingness.

"Probably not. Pain is supposed to be your body telling you to get help, but if you're the source of it anyways, then I'm helping myself some too, right?" he mumbled, forcing a small smile onto his face and glancing at him through his lashes before turning back to the torn flesh. He continued looking it over, reaching out a second time to ease it apart slightly and peer inside the split skin. Luckily, now that he truly looked it over, it did not appear as deep as he had originally feared, though it was not something to be taken lightly. It had to be a few inches deep, with at least five across from the awkward angle of the attack Ushio had initiated. He shook his head and wandered off to get his laptop, ignoring it when the other boy grunted softly in question but did not speak again. He came back after a moment, laptop open and on, setting it next to him and on the table and starting up the search engine while the other boy studied him curiously.

"So, this might sting a little…" he commented, turning towards him and starting to shake the antiseptic while the engine loaded for him. The other boy made a scoffing noise in the back of his throat and Yugi smiled slightly, shaking his head before making sure to shake it more thoroughly. He found himself watching as the boy angled his head to take in the screen beside him but he could feel his attention on him from the corner of his eye, refusing to let him out of his sight. "Anyways, don't lower your shirt at any point until I tell you to, okay? Or—you know, you could just take it off altogether if you wanted."

He looked so offended by the comment that Yugi honestly worried that he might get up and wander off before he got the chance to start trying to clean and stitch the wound. But instead, surprisingly, he kept the wound exposed, shirt pulled up, and ignored his advice about taking it off completely. The look on his face clearly said he was not amused as Yugi went about typing on the computer with his left hand, spraying with his right and occasionally glancing to make sure that he was not harming him.

"Stings?"

"Don't laugh at me," he snarled angrily, head snapping around so that their eyes locked, his gaze seeming to burn through his entire being with hatred so intense that he nearly flinched violently. "You got me into this situation, you bastard."

"I still don't understand how," Yugi muttered, shaking his head before putting the spray away and taking one of the rags next to him to the sink. The boy's eyes were on him as he wet it beneath the faucet and returned to begin rubbing away some of the dried blood caked around the torn flesh. He picked at his hands, stretching them out to start wiping it away with a concentration that put his effort in school to thorough shame. "I don't know how I brought you here. And what the hell were you even doing in the alley when Ushio came up to me? You weren't there before and I haven't seen you in a week…"

"How would you know if I wasn't there? I could have been following you the entire time."

"Don't insult me," he commented amiably, giving him a small smile before turning back to the computer for instructions. He wished momentarily that the other would allow him to take him to the hospital but was not so naïve that he would ever put that thought into motion or take it seriously by any means. He would never allow him to do so. "I can feel you when you're around."

He froze for a moment and then his voice came out curious and maybe a little unhappy, brows furrowed as Yugi glanced up at him curiously. "You can feel it when I'm near you?"

"Yeah. It's like…having a blanket over my skin, or an extra jacket or something."

"…It doesn't scare you?"

"No. Why would it?" Yugi blinked and looked at him more fully. "What do I feel like to you?"

The other boy stayed quiet for a long minute and then sighed softly. "Cold."

"Oh, so the safe feeling isn't shared then," he commented, teasing though he could feel his lips tugging into a frown as the other narrowed his eyes at the statement. "Am I really that big a threat to you?"

"Yes," he snapped angrily, baring his teeth. "You are."

"Is that why you've been avoiding me lately?"

He opened and closed his mouth once before narrowing his eyes into slits, gaze gleaming with annoyance and frustration. "One of the reasons, yes," he commented softly, voice almost wistful. "But you would do the same if you were in my shoes."

Yugi looked at him for a long minute and then lowered his eyes to the laptop screen once more. "Yeah, probably," he agreed with a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat, swallowing hard. "Although, if I really needed someone, I think I would rather kiss up than have them mad at me, don't you think?"

"No. I think that they should take what they get before I shove it down their fucking throat."

He burst out laughing and shook his head, knowing he was encouraging his horrible mood and unapologetic nature but unable to stop. "You are something else," he teased, snickering and smiling at him as he shook his head.

"I am a god. You don't normally run across them."

"Are you really though?"

"I'm pretty sure I'm being punished for some reason," he muttered, rolling his eyes. "Maybe I did something wrong…"

Yugi hesitated. "Do you know what you did?"

"Do you?"

"No."

"Then shut up."

Yugi grinned and shook his head, turning back to the laptop and looking over some of the instructions before leaving the room once more. The red-eyed teen leaned over to look at the screen again, mumbling, "Holding this is getting tedious. How much time do you think it will take you to finish?" as soon as the other returned.

He shook his head. "I don't know. It's pretty deep, though not as bad as I had originally thought," he commented with a small shrug before glancing at him again and finding himself relieved when the other seemed placated with the answer. "You could take your shirt off—"

"I would rather not," he spat shortly.

"Okay, then slip your arm out of that sleeve and let your shirt stay bunched up on your shoulder," Yugi murmured softly, nodding at him encouragingly before turning away again and looking the instructions over with a frown. "Stay still for me, okay?"

"Do I have a choice?"

The smaller teen frowned at him. "Not if you don't want it to get infected."

He blinked and Yugi shook his head, turning away and grabbing some of the materials, soaking them in some disinfectant as shown and taking another cloth to soak it as well, wiping at his wound for a moment. He could feel the pain that came with the action, wincing as his own side started burning and his skin felt as if it were peeling off. He resisted the urge to flinch and instead focused once more; how the other teen did not so much as blink was beyond him but he shuddered anyways.

"I suppose you feel it now, huh?"

Yugi ignored the snide tone, instead licking his lips. "Yes."

"_Good_."

"You know, you're really rude," he muttered, unable to keep the smile off his face or out of his voice. It was odd to find that a trait to be fond of where he usually hated rude people, but it was refreshing in the strangest of ways and he refused to miss the humor of the idea. He glanced at the instructions again, taking in all of the information that was in front of him before turning back and looking at his face. His fingers found the sewing needle and he worked to thread it, chewing his cheek. "It's kind of hilarious."

The other teen ignored him as if he had never spoken in the first place but watched curiously as Yugi inserted the needle into his skin. He felt a fresh prick of pain that seemed oddly numbed, but the other seemed to not even care as Yugi pulled it tightly and then wove again, digging the needle in and pulling once more. The red eyes tracked his every movement and he glanced up, checking for pain or anything to indicate discomfort only to find a blank stare awaiting him.

"You're going to get blood on your fingers."

Yugi blinked and then looked down, frowning momentarily at the blood that was starting to soak his fingers. He had not even noticed before the other spoke, and a momentary frustration bubbled up beneath his skin at his lack of attention to the possibility. "Whatever. It's fine," he mumbled, grabbing the rag once more and dabbing some to soak up the red liquid. "I'll deal with it when I get the chance."

He worked on keeping the stitches even and neat, zigzagging across the golden-bronze skin, glancing again at the screen before tying it off and clipping the loose thread with his teeth. For a moment he was startled by the taste that lingered on his tongue at the action, eyes widening in shock, and then turned away again.

"What the fuck?" the other snapped, nose wrinkling in disgust at the sight of it.

"What? I forgot to grab the scissors," he muttered, rolling his eyes at his astonished expression, blinking in confusion when he really took in the look on his face. He looked disgusted but curiosity was quickly seeping into his gaze, his head tilting slightly to the side as he studied him. Yugi furrowed his brows and shook his head even as he continued watching him. "What?"

"It doesn't…burn?"

Yugi shook his head after a moment, confused by the thought and frowning momentarily. "No. It's a strange taste but no, it doesn't burn," he replied, watching the way his brows furrowed.

"Disgusting or…?"

"Actually you taste kind of like blueberry pomegranate pepper jelly. Sweet yet tart with a little edge of heat. You're like fire on my tongue," Yugi muttered, the answer making the other teen's head snap up, eyes wide as he stared at him in shock. He forced a little smile onto his face, ignoring the way that the other teen looked ready to gawk at him and snickering softly at the astonishment in his eyes. He grabbed some gauze, applying it on top before taping the corners down and then running over the diagonal lines of tape with straight edges along the small square of cotton.

He went about packing them back into the box, working to make sure that they all fit as nicely as they had before. He startled as the other recoiled sharply away from him, breathing roughly momentarily and then growling low in his throat. Yugi looked at him in confusion, frowning, and then lowered his eyes and narrowed them into slits. The Puzzle? What the hell was his obsession with his Puzzle?

"Do you want the Puzzle or not?" he finally snapped, looking up at the wary eyes of the other teen. His face had grown somewhat cold and pale, an unhappy expression slowly making its way to settle there. The red eyes slowly shot up to his and narrowed into slits as his own were. "You can have it if you want—"

"No, I cannot have it," he spat, frustration and hatred seeping into his voice. "I do not want it either."

He started to snarl at him and then stopped short. The air was charged with frustration and resentment, burning between them, and for a moment he could not understand why but he found himself glancing at the Puzzle again. Was it the cause of all of this? Or was the boy just fascinated with it?

He recognized the resentment that cloaked the air, shared between them equally. The anger was there, sparking and lingering, shared just as abundantly. He did not even think he really had a reason to be angry, especially when all he had done was look at the Puzzle in the first place. But then, had he not attempted to steal it formerly, after Yugi had accidentally caused his nosebleed?

"Gods, this never ends, huh?" he muttered playfully, trying to engage some kind of conversation with the other boy who narrowed his eyes at his statement and still looked slightly pensive. "All these shared emotions and stuff? I' m kind of…concerned about it, honestly."

"Oh, so that is what concerns you," he drawled in an annoyed voice, rolling his eyes before turning away. "Not the fact that you are sitting in front of someone that wishes to kill you."

"Yeah? You want to kill me? Then why haven't you done it already?"

"I think it's a pretty obvious reason, don't you?"

"Right, because killing me would kill you, right? Is that honestly the only answer you have for that?" he snorted, starting to tuck the first-aid kit back into the cabinet and glancing at the aspirin momentarily. Maybe he should use a couple of those tonight. He could already tell that he was going to need to ask Mai for some makeup, say that he had had an unfortunate run-in with a bully or something. She wouldn't ask him too many questions or push him too hard, so it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

"No, it's the mere fact that I've attempted several times already and it hasn't worked."

"Yeah? Have you really put any effort into it?"

"Apparently not enough."

Yugi opened his mouth to tease him, pulling the small medicine bottle out with a grin, but looked over to find him gone again.

* * *

He had to blink several times and really rub his eyes dramatically to actually realize that he was seeing straight. He had thought that perhaps he had hurt his head too badly the day before with the hit from Ushio, but he could see now that he was right and his eyes were not lying to him. The teen shook his head in mystification before offering a small smile, confused when that expression did not change.

He looked oddly guilty. Maybe confused and sad and more than a little upset, standing in front of the door and waiting. His eyes were on him, slightly lowered so that he was studying his irises rather than his pupils, and Yugi tilted his head as he approached.

He blinked, frowning as he got within a few inches of him. His mouth opened to say hello or to ask him if he was okay, how his side was, but the other boy merely ducked his head and pulled something out of his pocket, holding it out to him.

He hesitated for a moment, confused and unhappy with the silence, but reached out and took it from his fingers, holding it in front of him and blinking wide eyes. His Dark Magician card, taped together almost perfectly, little to be seen of the original tear that had ruined it before…

He furrowed his brows, frowning, and then looked up as he licked his lips awkwardly. "Um…thank you," he muttered, blinking again and taking in the other's expression to see that he looked exhausted once more. "I honestly…forgot that I hadn't picked that up when I left the park after hitting you…"

Yugi tried to make it a joke by tacking the last part on, but shivered at the dead silence between them. The air seemed to ripple and freeze over as they faced each other though the other boy failed to raise his head.

"Here, do you want to come in? I was kind of hoping to check on your wound anyways…"

He shifted his weight and Yugi thought for a moment that he would nod or start after him if he opened the door. But instead he moved forward a step and walked past him, starting down the street. Yugi turned around to watch him go, gripping the card between his fingers tightly and chewing his cheek as his form disappeared around the corner.

Why he didn't give chase was a mystery to him but either way he found himself instead turning to go inside.

Hours later Yugi found himself waking up in the middle of the night to an empty room aside from himself, sitting up and turning on the lamp to really take in the lacking quality that came with the realization. A hollow pang in his chest made him frown and he took in the walls, the slope of the ceiling, the general overall tiny size of it, and bunched his limbs together, trying to find some kind of comfort in the action at the lack of company.

It was too lonely, too cold now, and he hated the feeling. Everything was off now that he had somewhat gotten used to the boy visiting. He had expected him to show up tonight, especially after what had happened before, when he handed over the card.

He shivered and closed his eyes, bunching the comforter up and sighing softly.

He didn't think he could get used to the idea of the other boy not being around. At some point in the short time they had interacted, despite the fights that always came about, he had grown so used to it that it felt like someone was stabbing him through the gut whenever the boy wasn't around him.

That look on his face, almost tiny, guilty, confused and almost miserable, flickered through his mind and Yugi shook his head slowly. Had he been hurt? Was he okay now? Yugi swallowed hard, biting his cheek, and his mind immediately spiraled to the idea of what could have possibly made him give the card back in the first place. What was it that had drawn him back over to him like that? He had been hoping to run into him to be able to look over his wound, but he had not expected the card at all. It had never even crossed his mind that the other might have kept it after he had left it behind like that.

He glanced at the nightstand and pulled the card out from under where it sat beneath the Puzzle, taking it in his hands and thumbing over the tape, the smoothness that made his skin crawl. The card itself was pretty worn out, not to the point that it was noticeable to the eye, but it wasn't nearly as smooth and crisp as the others. It was older and warmer to his fingers, some of the smoothness rubbed away.

* * *

**And this is the last chapter of Part I~**


	9. Chapter IX

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Warning: Cursing should be relatively mild but sometimes grows a little more at times, Season 0 Yami...and he's a little more unhinged than usual, so keep that in mind**.

**Note: There are mentions of blood, some graphic images of death, sensual moments and feelings, touches of violence/abuse**

**Update Schedule: I was going for bi-weekly updates, but it's definitely not looking that way now :P**

**Writing Note: I'm trying a new, more descriptive style for a story I plan to write later so tell me how I did with it?**

**Anyways, the story is a way to help get rid of some writer's block I'm dealing with so it's serving as a style-trial and a way to get back into writing.**

**I was honestly HOPING to get more than just this and the two werewolf one-shots I posted on Halloween before now, but I guess that wasn't meant to happen. Oh well. As for updates on the other stories, I have a LOT more research to do before I even ATTEMPT finishing and posting chapter five of _The Jackal and the Dragon _after I finish deciding what I should do with the rest of the story~ I've got _The Distraction_'s ninth chapter in the works (I'm not entirely sure about the ending so I'm looking it over some more) and I'm tackling _Umbral Oath _soon enough.**

Part II

Chapter IX

"Dude, Mai is fucking _amazing_!" Joey stated in excitement, grabbing him around the shoulders and rubbing his knuckles forcefully over his scalp. His skin burned, his hair tangling, and Yugi hissed as he squirmed to get out of his grip and tried to put on a smile nice enough that it was not noticeable how much he really wasn't bothering to pay attention in the first place. He had been prattling on about the blonde since school had finally let out—he swore it had taken three times as long as it should have due to how lonely he was growing with the other boy's disappearance. He had been excited out of his mind to keep talking about her, to have himself laughing around the grape soda he had been holding while at the arcade. They had just spent the last hour there, with Yugi playing some games that Joey swore he would never be able to beat him at around talking about her. He, of course, had not been able to beat him at all, especially when he had gotten so caught up in retelling a conversation they had had that he had become moony-eyed during a kung fu game and left Yugi rolling his eyes halfway through. He had gone on about how she had video-chatted with him because she had gone to the states for a little while with her parents and would be there after a couple of weeks.

Of course he had already known about that, since she had told him two days ago that her parents were taking her to L.A. Her dad had been planning it for a while and had wanted to go there for the week and so it was going to be a small family trip for the next seven days. Those seven days had easily extended into fourteen, and Yugi wouldn't even be surprised if perhaps it grew into twenty-one or possibly a full month. He had only been mildly surprised by the idea of the vacation itself, having forgotten a long time back that his aunt and uncle were so likely to take holidays.

The small teen had absorbed all the information, filtered back the comments he knew that the blond would want to hear, and then had not really bothered past that. Their snack at Burger World had been nearly silent on his behalf and Joey had failed rather elegantly at noticing, a massive relief for Yugi himself. He had never expected him to notice in the first place, but the possibility had still scared him somewhat due to a touch of paranoia. Mai had done him a great favor in keeping him so distracted because Yugi did not think that he could have handled it if Joey had been anything less than oblivious. Questions would have driven him crazy and Joey was likely to try to get as much information as he was able to, like an investigator amongst a crime scene. Joey had a nose like a bloodhound when it came to something being wrong with one of his friends, and Yugi had never been able to truly hold something at bay when he tried to dig it up like he always inevitably did.

The arcade games had been easily won, without a single question of whether he could beat the blond at any time, and yet he was still unsettled and felt inexplicably disgusted with himself as they continued walking. It had come up in the middle of their lunch at Burger World but it had been beneath his skin like the blood in his veins the entire time, though it had remained mostly unnoticeable until then. He had not seen the red-eyed boy in weeks, nearly a full month, and every day that he did not know where he was or if he was okay was beginning to make his head spin and his heart ache in his chest.

He was unsure of when or how exactly he had become so terribly attached to the other boy and the short amount of time left him reeling, but at the same time he was not even sure that he should attempt justifying it. He knew that it had to do with whatever it was that existed so keenly between them, that primal and powerful drive which lingered beneath his skin and so the other boy's as well. However, he did admit that either way he was still struggling with the very concept of it all.

Since he had been left alone like this, he had found himself in a rather constant state of exhaustion, waking in the middle of the night hopeful and waiting. On a rare night, when he was either particularly hopeful or pathetically lonely, he would get to his feet to open the window some. It made no sense but sometimes he thought of it as some kind of single like those beacons of light they used to summon superheroes, but something more internal and inviting that might somehow lead the red-eyed teen back to him. Obviously the boy would never be anything even remotely like that of a superhero. He did, after all, seem to be a mass of nothing but seething rage and muscles that twisted and snarled beneath his skin like furious snakes. But it still felt as if he were trying to somehow signal him despite how insignificant he really was in the middle of it all.

He got worked up far too often now that he was no longer around him, and it had spiked drastically—he realized—whenever he had first begun working on the Puzzle, whether it was the first time or the last day in which he succeeded. He knew from stories from his mom and grandpa that he had always gotten up at some point for hours on end, wandering the house because he had too much energy and nowhere to direct it. Other times he had worked on the Puzzle while the rest he spent holed up in his room playing games until school rolled back around.

"Joey, come on, let go," he complained, voice coming out a little disgruntled but falsely amused all at once. He squirmed, struggling in his grip as if he had a chance to truly pull away, but only escaped fully when the blond complied and allowed him to escape. Yugi was actually proud of himself in that moment for the sole reason that he had even managed to keep his voice well balanced in such a way.

"Your hair doesn't even _change_!" the blond laughed out loud, gaining a blush from the smaller boy who scowled at him playfully immediately after. But Yugi had to admit that it felt as if it were an automatic reaction and the embarrassment that should have been resonating with the burning of his cheeks was nonexistent. It was completely void where it would have once been noticeable even if only slightly.

"Whatever. Don't you have to run to the hospital anyways?" he commented, gesturing down the street as the blush faded immediately from his cheeks. A mental smirk tugged desperately at his lips. "Serenity is waiting for you, remember?"

"Aw, _fuck_!"

Yugi laughed as the blond tore down the street without a glance back, shouting something that resembled a farewell while the smaller boy shook his head and started walking again. A few cars passed by, humming softly as they faded from view, and the small teen swore he saw something moving in the very corner of his vision. It might have been a single stab of light or an action that had caught and held his attention for a few moments, but his head turned regardless.

The reflection that stared back at him made him reach out and press his hands against the glass, blinking in shock at the sight before him. For a split second he almost thought that the glass would fold into something else and he might pass through it and towards something that should not have existed. A small, almost impossible and unnoticeable hope crept through him that he might be able to force himself into the image that rested there, marred only by small beams of light from the sun over head, sweeping through the reflection. He stared for a moment, searching the image for any kind of clue of what he might see that could lead him to the other. Excitement and adrenaline began to pump through him immediately, a momentary flare of emotion, as he took in the harsh chill that crept through his palms at the touch of glass. He reveled in the sensation, pressing his palms more fully against the glass so that the chill seemed to numb his nerves. He was expecting someone to come out and tell him to get his hands off the café's glass, but no one even seemed to notice the oddity. Yugi turned his head and looked for him.

He scanned for those dangerous red eyes, sharp and exotic and fierce like those of a true predator's. He scanned for the gleaming and dancing lights within that beautiful gaze, the shadows that left so much room for emotion that it was terrifying. He searched for goldenrod bangs and lightning bolt streaks in masses of black red-tipped hair belonging to a person with the most beautiful shade of skin he had ever seen. He thought of the golden-bronze tone, so deep and gorgeous that it looked like the baked sands of the deserts of Egypt. He looked for clothes like his, shades darker and lying on a build that was taller and somewhat skinnier than his own. And immediately he sought out the sight of the bloodstain on the right somewhere near the bottom of a ribcage that he had to admit looked a little too bony.

He found nothing but a small twinge in his gut said he was close, that he could come face to face with him again if he only moved fast enough. He tried to picture a place where he might see him, drawing at blanks that made his mind reel. His hope was vanishing almost immediately, smoldered by the realization, and his stomach dropped as discouragement crept through him.

A sudden thought crossed his mind, almost like a drifting breeze, and he took off running with the energy that flooded his limbs momentarily. He turned a corner, muscle memory more than conscious choice guiding his way, and his mind leaped forward with thoughts as to where he was going. The sound of his sneakers against the asphalt made his ears ring as blood pounded through them with the power to nearly deafen him. His instincts were buzzing in his mind, leading him, and he trusted them to know exactly where it was that he was meant to go. He felt that primal string in his blood, like the building of heat and flashing bursts of electricity beneath his skin, and knew that he was going to find the boy wherever he was hiding however much his mind seemed to lag with the task of figuring out where it was he was headed.

Yugi came across the park out of breath and feeling as if a freight train might have found its way into his chest and run over his lungs repeatedly. He spent a moment trying to make his sides feel far less painful than they did, aching and stinging beneath his skin as if they were being poked by needles. Small bursts of electricity seemed to race through his nerves and his blood heated as if it were alight with fire, his lips momentarily tingling with the urge to grin like a schoolboy. Breathing in shallow little inhales before turning his head, Yugi felt the Puzzle momentarily heat against his abdomen. His head buzzed faintly with approval and relief, his instincts rushing forward to lead him further.

It was, in that moment, almost as if the boy himself were guiding him there through soft tugs as his feet continued forward. He had no conscious control of what he was doing beyond breathing and looking around, and his legs were carrying him as swiftly as possible to eat the distance between them. He came to him in a small bit of cold, like a distant chill of winter air, and displaced security crept through his system to warm his blood as frosty air made his face ache softly.

He thought he heard a noise, quite possibly a small breath or a brief exhale, maybe even a sharp snarl that was cut short. He turned his head towards the noise immediately, about to grin stupidly, but felt his skin chill with the reality that he had found nothing there awaiting him. The small teen glanced around slowly, taking in the area around him, and frowned as he realized that it seemed almost as if there was no one around. The park was insanely popular, however, and that thought did not truly make sense to him. Winter was oddly the park's most popular season as well, adding to the falsity that the thought seemed to weave together. The lake sometimes froze and kids like to skip stones across the icy surface, to laugh and play around and some of them liked to make a point of crossing it if they could…

He stepped further into the trees, among the trunks which were stripped bare and the bark fallen away to leave them defenseless, and glanced once over his shoulder towards the street. The asphalt was oddly devoid of anything—human, animal, vehicle alike—and a sudden alarm and realization crept through him as he turned away again. The boy had used some kind of magic to make it so that no one else had even noticed it when they had first met, when he had knocked him off his stool at the arcade. No one had seen them kissing, had heard their talk, had noticed it when he had vanished into thin air.

Yugi shook his head and glanced around once. He knew now, without a question of a doubt, that the other boy had done this. He had somehow made the park and the roads leading to it a place that people avoided without even conscious thought. No one would walk near it, no one would think to enter it, no one would consider that someone else had done that very thing. Whatever the boy had done, he had made it so that the park was something that was nearly nonexistent to the residents of Domino City, as if it were no more than expanse of nothingness. Whatever thoughts or ideas they had had about the entire situation would have been completely nonexistent, all of their memories stripped away.

How Yugi actually knew this was beyond him at that moment as well. He should not have known this in all actuality. But there it was, like some kind of fountain welling too high with water that was slipping over the edges and leaving him nearly completely undone with the flood it was creating.

He looked upwards, towards the branches of the trees nearest him, eyes scanning, and then dragged them back to the trunks. He was there in the trees with him somewhere, possibly watching him for all he knew. He thought momentarily that he might hear him breathing but realized immediately that all that was audible was his own steps as he continued forward. The crunching beneath his shoes, somewhat crisp but weaker due to the sunlight that had warmed it from its frozen state, said that he could not make a silent approach and he would hear the other boy as well should he be walking towards him. And all it managed to do was remind him of the very moment he had played this game of seek with the other formerly. The last time he had had his heart stomped on when he had torn his Dark Magician card in half right in front of him, not the least bit a happy ending to a game.

He blinked, the thought bringing on a sullen feeling before he shook it off immediately and turned his head to stare at him. He was not sure if he had been approaching him or not before that thought had crossed his mind but he was now only a few feet away. His eyes were sharp, studying him, keen with intelligence and potential and a million different things that Yugi could never name no matter the time spent trying.

In the silence he imagined them both hearing each other's heartbeats, straining their ears and finding some kind of strange, false comfort from it. He imagined them both breathing too roughly and trying not to allow the other to see so as not to appear weak in their presence. He imagined the air warming with fierce emotions that were violent and crackled between them like vibrant, living lightning. He imagined it all with a beautiful thread of thought that snapped abruptly as he focused on him once more.

He took the first step at the same time that the other did, pausing for a second before continuing, both of them getting within a foot of each other and stopping. They reached the halfway point, staring at each other silent, but did not take another step closer.

"I haven't seen you in a while. You okay?"

The other teen's eyes narrowed, glistening stones bathed in blood, rubies tainted with distorted pupils and darkness at the edges, endless in depth and glowing around the boundaries of the blackness. "I am fine," he snarled quietly, curling his lips back and raising his head slightly in challenge, the smaller teen blinking at the reaction. "Possibly as good as you are, though I could be mistaken. You seem far happier than the time I last saw you."

Yugi blinked again in confusion at the statement and then shook his head slowly. "You ran off," he stated quietly, frowning at the memory of their last actual conversation. He had vanished immediately after saying that he wanted to kill him, when he had started teasing him. He was vaguely concerned that perhaps it was his attempt at familiarity that had brought it forth or if it was simply the fact that he was uncomfortable with him as it was. It did not seem like it when he had spoken to him like this, all force and no ground shared. "And aside from that, no, I'm not happy. I have not been happy for a while."

"Right, inconveniences and all that."

"I never called you that. I don't know why you're acting this way but it's really starting to piss me off," he snapped, his attitude grating on his nerves even as his mind and instincts seemed to be attempting to embrace him, to pull him close and work on some kind of balance. He wanted nothing more than to find some kind of strange harmony between them where there was only chaos, pure and simple and perfect. But he was not about to beg and the boy lacked the power to force him to his knees. "If you plan on being a fucking asshole, I think I should just go ahead and go home then. If you would like to suck it up a little and speak to me, then do it. I have no idea how generous I'm actually feeling today, though, considering just how much difficulty you seem to be having pulling that massive stick out of your ass."

The other boy snorted a laugh, sardonic and cruel, and Yugi narrowed his eyes to glance down at his clothes. His gaze fell towards where he should have seen the wound that had caused him so much pain. The clothes were not even torn, instead perfectly sewn together as they would have been before he had had his run in with Ushio. The bloodstains that should have been there were not, and Yugi had a moment where he vaguely wondered if washing his clothes had somehow fixed the boy's. But then…he had not sported bloodstains or tears like he had experienced the pain that the other teen had felt the entire time. Confusion sprang forward immediately and he tilted his head slowly, furrowing his brows as he looked more closely only to find that there was nothing to see. He searched his shirt for a long minute, frowning, and bit his lip. It was the same dark gray tank top beneath the school uniform he was wearing, but there were not even bloodstains to be seen…

The boy didn't hesitate to pull his shirt up and show off the wound that seemed perfectly healed aside from the stitching that was still there. A single thread of black crisscrossed his skin just a few inches beneath his ribcage, the flesh no longer even pink from where the opening had been. It should have scarred him horribly, when it came down to it…

He blinked slowly, frowning and looking upwards towards the other's face to find only a blank expression and eyes that appeared bored. Was it his thoughts that were suddenly heated and charged like electricity, burning and vibrant and lashing out between them? Or was it his?

Yugi chewed his cheek, fighting off the strange and unwelcome idea of trying to coax him into nudity, into a seduction that seemed far from normal. Feeling flushed with the thought that sprang to mind, of those red eyes glazed over and his lips swollen from fevered kisses, he fought off the urge to duck his head. Humor made the other's eyes darken and Yugi felt his cheeks grow hotter with twinges of confusion fighting their way upwards amidst the mass of emotion inside of him. That could not be him, right? It…had to be the other boy…right?

"Wrong," he drawled, baritone pitch dipping and grating, soft and yet far too loud in his ears. It drowned out the sudden increase in tempo that made up his speeding heart and caused his legs to feel slightly weak. "That's yours. And mine. An equal mix, I would presume."

Yugi blinked and frowned before shaking his head slightly. He was not sure if he wanted to argue or if he was just astonished by the idea that his mind had slipped forward and toppled down that path so easily. Was that kind of thing normal? He didn't think so when it came down to it. Normally if he got that kind of thought, it was brought on by conversation or a visual cue, and it only happened where Tea was concerned because he was emotionally drawn to her. And he knew it was more emotional than physical because normally his hormones balanced towards that rather than appearance. He had to like their personality and unless there was something short-circuiting in his brain, he should not have been drawn to this boy. Because his personality was horrible…

"Get out of my head," he murmured with a small undertone of frustration when he saw the smirk crossing the other's lips. His red eyes were dancing with laughter now and Yugi could feel his cheeks starting to heat already. "Stop doing that. You don't see me doing that to you."

The boy gave him a thoroughly unimpressed look, appearing only seconds away from rolling his eyes or fisting his hair in annoyance. "You don't know how. And I wish I could but I have no idea if that is even truly possible. You think far too loudly and you are constantly within my head," he snarled quietly, shaking his head and narrowing his eyes into slits. Yugi blinked and his eyes grew owlish, as if he had never considered it before as being partially his own fault that he could hear him. He could almost taste the apology, thick between them and surging with some kind of small sad energy, as if he could not fathom blaming him when it was his own fault. He did not care for the words, did not bother to listen, because it was much easier to think of him as an enemy than it was as someone who really cared and would try to help him. Humans were too greedy to be caring towards a god—especially one that was trapped, bound to them so pointedly. He try to find his way into friendship in order to enslave him as others of his species might; stupid boy that he was, he expected him not to realize? He nearly sneered at him but instead smirked, pushing it away to continued the conversation. "Cute that your simplistic little mind did not catch onto that, huh?"

The smaller boy shook his head slowly, frowning and really looking at him, as if he could see his soul and through his entire being. He shivered briefly, feeling as if he were gazing inside of his skin and could see the million and one things that were wrong with him. He wondered what he _did _see, if it was the blood and chaos or the twisting darkness that screamed and bred nightmares, if it was power or weakness…

"Whatever. You're just a lot more a complication than I'm used to being exposed to," Yugi argued, the words coming out sharp but a tiny smile of amusement tugging at his lips in response to his own statement. The other boy let out a low snarl of a noise, like the rumble of a passing car or a cat's purr turned vicious, at the sight of the curve of his mouth. "Frustrating. A lot more trouble than I originally thought you would be, honestly."

"You assumed that I would be trouble?"

That was actually a really smart assumption when it came down to it. Considering who he was and what he was, it was good that he assumed he was going to be trouble for him. Now, if he could make him regret ever having brought him here and could figure out how to kill him and get back, then it would be great.

"Not everyone goes around making out with me"—He blinked at the snarling noise that came from the other boy. His red eyes had narrowed into slits and his lips were curled back to show off his teeth. His body language had turned entirely too aggressive, as if had staked a claim and was hearing that others had been moving in on it—"when I don't even know them."

Yugi was stunned when they both flinched away at the wave of pain that came with the statement. The action was jerky and swift, as if it had been automatic and he had no way of suppressing it, and made him look almost human for a split second. He smiled at the thought, finding it admirable despite the fact that it was stupid all at once.

"Um…I meant to tell you before, but you kind of ran off…Anyways, I appreciate what you did for me. With Ushio—_aside _from trying to kill him, because that wasn't right," he murmured slowly, the words unfurling from his mouth awkwardly as the other boy stared at him with wide eyes and his body tensed with a rigidity that spoke of complete shock. "You were just protecting me—and yourself, I guess. I shouldn't have snapped at you. Um…I…I really am sorry. I just…I'm kind of at a loss about what to do with you."

For a moment the other was silent and then his voice lifted in a furious sneer. "Do with me?" The words were repeated slowly as his eyes narrowed into slits of gleaming blood and his shoulders rose, anger making his gaze bright with flames of pure hatred. "What the fuck does that mean?"

"I mean interacting with you. I don't—see, that's exactly what I mean! I never know what will make you snap! I don't mean to say something like that, rude or nasty or something, it's just…it comes out that way because I don't know how to interact with you and it's hard with all of these emotions everywhere," he explained, gesturing with a vague wave of his arms, frowning and shaking his head slowly. "I have no idea how to work with this. I don't know how to work with you. I don't…I have no understanding when it comes to you. It's…it's just really hard."

"Well, isn't that just _adorable_? Trying to make me _sympathize_," he drawled with a slow roll of his eyes, making a point of sneering without words for a moment only to find the smaller boy unfazed by the show.

"You know, I should be angry with you," Yugi murmured, blinking before smiling and shaking his head again. The other teen seemed to have enough anger in him for the both of them when it came down to it. "You ran off without warning, didn't show up again for weeks, brought me here to lash out some more, and now you're mocking me and I feel like I should be pissed at you but I don't know how to be, I guess. I'm not mad at you at all."

He blinked and recoiled slightly, unnerved at the statement as his stomach twisted and his throats seemed to stutter in his head, confused by the admittance and frowning as he looked at him. His jaw worked momentarily, clenching and locking before growing lax again. Muscles ticked beneath his skin and his eyes narrowed once more into slits of annoyance and a terrible suspicion that nearly had enough power to make Yugi cringe.

"I don't think you're all that bad, actually," he continued suddenly after a moment of silence had passed between them, the smaller boy chewing his cheek. The other did not look even slightly appeased by the statement. "I don't think you're always so hard. I think you're just strong…and really lost right now."

"What are you? Some kind of fucking psychiatrist?" he snapped viciously, shaking his head and looking him over furiously. Yugi blinked momentarily, startled by the use of the word before he realized that he could feel him there in his mind, digging through to find the terms he needed. It was as it had been before, a small pinprick of ice and the sensation of something in his head, crawling and digging, tossing thoughts back and forth. The sensation faded away immediately upon his recognition, as if it had been burned and was retreating, and he missed it fiercely when it left him. "You're telling me this?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, why not? If you run again, that's your right, but you should know that I won't turn my back on—" He yelped when he grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, jerking forward into a stumble. His blue-violet eyes flashed with confusion and sudden alarm, perhaps thinking about their last conversation or maybe expecting him to throw him back again. Both of them stared at each other and for a moment he could not tell if he wanted to shove him away or hold him closer. He didn't know if he wanted to sink his teeth into his flesh and let him bleed or kiss him until they melted into each other. Both thoughts were so terribly appealing it disgusted him, left his head spinning and his heart pounding too hard.

He nearly laughed at the thought. A scoff bubbled up in his lungs. A heart. He had a heart—and lungs. He had a heart and lungs. He had internal organs. He had the very _same _internal organs that he had once ripped out of others' bodies when they had brought his wrath upon them. And now one rested in his chest, beating so harshly that it made his ears ring.

And what was worse was that he knew Yugi could hear it as well. He was too close. The space between them was too small. The air was too thick, making it echo loudly in both of their ears. He thought his magic was bleeding into him as it had when they had first met at the arcade. Or maybe his senses had burst forth as they had in the alleyway, drawing Yugi into sharing them with him when he had caught his attention. Being so close to a kill and drawing his life force into himself had made it harder to contain them before Yugi had spoken up. But now he thought the colors around him were getting brighter—_too _bright—fierce and darker, sharper, deeper, and they threatened to drown him. The smaller boy's eyes seemed to have grown shades deeper, with a light to them around the pupils that he didn't understand nor care for. His skin crawled, feverish where it was normally freezing cold. It was disgusting and disturbing in every way that such a small speck of a boy could gain such a reaction from by mere exposure.

He shuddered, trembling once hard enough to make Yugi do the same, and then pressed his mouth against his. The smaller teen let out a startled noise but didn't bother to fight him. His hands grasped his upper arms with just enough force to be noticed, squeezing faintly as if trying to coax him to kiss harder. But then, perhaps he wasn't squeezing so little. Maybe he just could not feel the smaller boy. Maybe Yugi was squeezing to the point that the circulation in his arms would be cut off completely and he just could not feel it…

Maybe he could not feel him…

The thought made his heart skip and stumble, stuttering in his chest.

The smaller boy was warm where he was used to being so cold. His body responded to the heat where he didn't understand why and didn't think it should have. Every nerve in his body was tensed and desperate, pleading with him to make the blue-violet-eyed boy melt into, to have him disappear inside of him. He shivered again and the other moved his hands to grasp at the front of his jacket, to pull him closer.

Or maybe he was preparing to shove him away.

He didn't really know. He wasn't even sure he truly cared.

But the way that the smaller boy affected him was getting beneath his skin, was making his heart lurch and his stomach twist and everything inside of him break and fracture. The warmth would seep beneath his skin, too hot to be contained at first and making him feel as if he were burning from the inside out. He was not happy with the heat that was given so effortlessly whether through kissing or mere exposure. It singed at his insides and left his mind feeling incredibly foreign. His entire body seemed to be growing to take on an unfamiliar and terribly uncomfortable sensation with the building heat as well. And it was only him that ever managed to do it, that would ever coax such a reaction from him, and yet he did not feel the panic that should have come with it. He didn't think he was even acting as himself anymore—or perhaps he was beginning to act more like himself than he ever had before. But it was so terribly hard to stay around him without feeling as if he were dying on the inside, unfocused and spinning and—

He pulled away abruptly, snarling angrily, and stepped back once. Yugi released him immediately and instantly started forward to grab him again when he saw how unbalanced he was. The other boy righted himself as if the misstep had never happened and the low snarl grew a bit louder as he became more concerned about him. The emotion was drawing at his subconscious and trying to make him feel better, possibly more grounded, but it also made his temperature spike with pure hatred and frustration.

"Are you—?"

"Go. Go away," he breathed, shaking his head and stepping back again with his gaze on the ground, staring at the grass and the way it was stuck straight up, the way that it was hardened by the cold… "I don't…just go."

Yugi opened his mouth to argue, to say that he was the one who had brought him here, that he wanted to talk, that he couldn't just dismiss him like this, but he couldn't find the words. Instead, he stayed silent and nodded once when he looked up, eyes desperate and pleading, silently _begging _him to leave him alone.

He turned on his heel, glancing back and half-expecting him to be gone, but found him staring at him and his jaw ticking. He could not tell if he was upset with the way the muscle jumped beneath his skin, but he knew that the way his shoulders rose told him not to speak. He turned away again, feeling dazed with this new little interaction. How strange and awkward was this entire thing? He had no idea what the hell he was supposed to be doing, if it was right to try to keep him in his life like he felt his gut telling him to. He didn't know if it was right to attempt having him around with all the pain it brought. He had no idea if he should back off immediately or if he should keep going with it as it was. He didn't know if he should turn back around and try to talk to him or not.

Yugi shivered, glancing over his shoulder and finding him watching him, looking frustrated and unhappy. But overall he seemed to be growing miserable in a way that made him want to comfort him despite not knowing how. They stared at each other for a moment and then the other boy finally turned away and started walking off before he could think straight about attempting to talk.

What was he actually supposed to be doing with this? He honestly had no plan on how to approach the other boy but he was starting to think that he affected him just as much as he did him. There was something off about the way that he had pushed him away moments ago, as if he had been prepared for Yugi to do so and had taken it upon himself instead. Or maybe he had felt something that Yugi had missed while trying to lose himself inside of some of the pain that existed between them, trying to offer a piece of himself that he had no idea how he should go about attempting.

* * *

**Remember that Yami might be confused about things and he might be showing another side of him due to it, but he's not exactly changing. Not yes anyways. You'll be able to TELL when he's started changing, especially as the little mini-series goes along (because I've decided to make it into a mini-series, possibly six to ten stories long but nothing too long). So, yeah, he's just as dark as he was in the beginning, he's just struggling slightly with working it all out mentally. (And you'll find out why later as well. The situation isn't nearly as cut-and-dry as it might seem at the moment~)**


	10. Chapter X

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Warning: Cursing should be relatively mild but sometimes grows a little more at times, Season 0 Yami...and he's a little more unhinged than usual, so keep that in mind**.

**Note: There are mentions of blood, some graphic images of death, sensual moments and feelings, touches of violence/abuse**

**Update Schedule: I was going for bi-weekly updates, but it's definitely not looking that way now :P**

**Writing Note: I'm trying a new, more descriptive style for a story I plan to write later so tell me how I did with it?**

**Anyways, the story is a way to help get rid of some writer's block I'm dealing with so it's serving as a style-trial and a way to get back into writing.**

Chapter X

He was there.

Yugi blinked open his eyes and stared at the moonlit figure in front of him, the bared teeth and glowing gaze. He was trembling, his shadow stretched and fractured, broken in random places with pure energy that showed itself in long white lines like the shattered shards of mirror that had been scattered on his floor the first day he had been in his room. The blue-violet-eyed boy glanced at the wall and stared at a pair of golden eyes with a third above that where he assumed was the center of the forehead. He blinked, startled by the image and the way that the line of color that made the third was slowly opening more fully, the golden light making him cringe. His eyes shot back to the other boy immediately, startled when he heard him move, and the feral snarl he let out before leaping made his heart falter for a split second.

The smaller teen flinched when he landed fully on the bed, his weight making him jump as the springs creaked and groaned beneath the new addition. He blinked once but did not respond when the other figure snarled and reached out, grasping his throat tightly in cold hands and squeezing with enough force to make stars appear behind his eyes. Yugi merely looked at him, feeling the pinch of nails in his throat and choking on the sensation but not enough to feel panic spark through him. Something in the back of his mind was telling him to keep calm, almost as if it were blissfully unaware of what was happening to him that very moment. The frantic stare that the supposed god gave him scared him far more than the glares or his bared teeth or even the way his grip continued to tighten.

A harsh tremble made his profile jerk in the darkness, his eyes glowing and dilated and almost completely unlike anything Yugi had ever seen. "What the fuck have you _done _to me?" he spat, shaking and squeezing harder while the smaller teen stared back at him. He fought off the urge to squint against the pain in his throat, his eyes feeling almost as if they might pop out should he put any more pressure into the attack. He was so much smaller, so much tinier, and yet he put Ushio's beefy muscles to shame with the squeeze he was producing, the power that rolled off with the simple action. By the gods, he was suffocating him so fully that it was impossible for his mind to even truly wrap itself around the immense reality of the situation.

Vaguely the concept of his own instincts betraying him slowly surfaced from some dark part of his mind. Maybe if he had not listened to that impulse that said he would make it out alive he would be in far better shape than he was.

The thought left him immediately, bewilderment replacing it. The other boy released him suddenly, recoiling sharply as if he had stung him, and Yugi blinked in confusion. Did he feel it when he was squeezing his throat, when his airways were being closed and his windpipe crushed? Or maybe—and he knew this was wistful on his behalf and highly unlikely considering—he was pulling away because he could not stand to do it?

Yugi was unsure of what he wanted to be the reality of the situation. Half of him was hopeful in a ridiculous sense of wishful stupidity that perhaps it was both scenarios, equally weighted. One screamed that he had the power, survival, that he had would not hurt him as long as he had that. But this truth of the matter—the more likely one—was sad and left him feeling remorseful. He _wanted_ him to save himself if he had to. There was nothing more in the world that he wanted at that moment. He did not want him to be put ahead of the other boy if push came to shove.

"Say you hate me."

Yugi blinked, frowning at the distressed statement, the way that the other boy bowed his head and waited with a tension that made his body quake briefly. The words slithered through the air like a terrible airborne snake, bleeding and worming its way into his mind with an accuracy that was as deadly as venom.

He trembled briefly, as if taking on the other boy's own involuntary movements, and then swallowed harshly. "I can't. I do not hate you. I don't think I honestly ever could," he admitted slowly, frowning, unsure of where the words came from but only that they felt right, real. They were the first thing in days that had not felt weak and forced, fake to the core and completely useless as it left his mouth. These words had purpose, meaning, though he was unsure what it was. "I'm not really sure how that works, though. I don't think I can stop caring…"

Was it natural self-preservation? Yugi wished he could say that, but there was something else inside of him that reared its head instead. It said no, that it was something far more powerful, and he hated that ugly thought as it crept through him.

The other boy shook his head slowly in sharp, violent jerks as if he were dying to sink his teeth into his throat but knew the repercussions and instead raised his eyes just enough to peer into his as he snarled low in his throat. "Do you even understand how dire this has become?" he spat viciously, shaking his head again and bunching his shoulders even as his body jerked in an unwanted shiver. Yugi watched his skin roll briefly with the effort to retain it, his shoulders momentarily quaking before settling once more. "You and I are handcuffed together. Our fates? You die and I shall too. If I should die, you would follow not long after. Do you honestly understand that or does that somehow escape your tiny mind's limited comprehension?"

"Of course I understand what you've been saying this entire time," he argued, biting his lip and shaking his head after a moment with a soft sigh. If he had not spent so many nights awake and restless, wondering, confused and shaken by the news, then he might have argued and snapped at him not to call him stupid. But now all he could think about was the harsh truth of the situation. It was dangerous and dark, like a growing stain, and it left his mind reeling with unhappiness. "I guess I was expecting it was a lie or something, but I can see it isn't."

He remained silent for a moment, seeming as if he were not even breathing. "You can't claim ignorance anymore," he hissed, a gleeful vicious smugness creeping into the undertone of his voice.

"Because you told me," he muttered softly, frowning and wishing his next words held some kind of truth to them. "I never needed to know."

Yugi watched him smile cruelly, those dark red eyes glinting in the darkness and his teeth sparkling with moonlight, the tips of his canines like sharpened blades. "That's where you are wrong, little game. You think I could exist if I had not run across you in that little arcade? No, even if I could, we were bound to cross paths at some point and we would have ended up right where we are now."

"And where would that be? Because I honestly don't know where we are. I think we're just as lost as we were before."

His voice was wistful, with a small glimmer of something like amusement or confusion. "Bleeding into each other and overlapping somewhere. That is the best we can do right now."

"Why? Why is that? Because I would help you if you wanted me to. If you really need it, I will help you. I do not understand why you want from me, however, and it is hard trying to figure it out when I have no idea what the hell I should try doing in the first place," Yugi said softly, biting his lip and watching those red eyes blink slowly in acknowledgment towards his statement. "Obviously we need to be around each other or you wouldn't keep popping up in and out on me like this, but what I don't understand is why you keep running. I don't understand why you should keep avoiding me and refuse to meet me halfway. If you would just do that, we could work this out."

"Work this out? There is nothing to be worked out," the other snarled angrily, teeth glinting harshly once more in the darkness, eyes glowing a bit more viciously. "You have no idea what you are doing and I have no desire to remain here while you fumble in an attempt to figure it out."

"Yeah? Well then tell me how to send you back and I will do it." He searched his face and the other teen stared in shock, eyes flashing again, seeming to draw in the moonlight from the window nearby and display it in his gleaming irises. His expression fell into one of pure startled discomfort, a small bead of confusion making his head tilt. "Just tell me how. I don't want you to be here if you aren't going to be happy with it. I just didn't mean to bring you here…"

"I don't know how to go back. I don't think there is a _way _to do so either. I think I am stuck here. With…with you," he admitted softly, slowly, with a bitter edge as if the words left a disgusting residue in his mouth. He glanced at the Puzzle on the desk and turned away again with a loud sigh, red eyes narrowing into gleaming slits. "There is no escaping this…"

"I'm sorry. I didn't know…I never meant to…I don't even know how you got here."

The other boy's jaw clenched violently, the muscles jerking, and Yugi could hear his teeth grinding together, far too loud in the darkness, making the silence nonexistent for a moment as he shook his head roughly. "You don't know?" he hissed softly, the edge of the last word growing into a furious snarl of hatred. "You don't _know_? Are you truly so dense?"

Yugi frowned but didn't attempt to broach a fight with him, not the least bit awake enough to push himself into such an argument. It would be intense and violent; he could feel it without even truly considering it. The boy's state of mind upset him more than the words he was saying and it was hard to pay attention to anything but the despair and anger, the resentment and open hatred that flared from the other boy into him.

"I don't know. I really have no idea how I did this. And I'm so sorry for that."

He glared for a moment, frustration pouring from him into the smaller boy with enough force to make his insides grow cold, and then turned away and stared at his bed, hissing, "I hate the color. It's utterly disgusting—like fresh piss."

Yugi couldn't help the small laugh that left him, looking at it and shrugging after a moment. "I consider it more of a mustard color, but fresh piss is nice too," he said lightly, teasing and earning himself a small tug of the other's lip, though he had no idea if it was a good or bad sign. "It's not the best color. I don't really like it sometimes but other times it's nice. It's…one of those colors that kind of has to grow on you."

"It is disgusting. Why would you keep it?"

"Why? I don't know. I think it's just because all of us picked it out when I was younger. I think it's probably one of the only clear memories I have of our entire family together and doing something," he admitted, furrowing his brows and frowning, thinking about the way that they had gone out that day. He remembered the argument that had come about when he had picked the color. His father had something against the color yellow in general but his mother had coaxed him into allowing it. His grandfather had merely insisted that it was his choice to buy whatever he wanted for his own room. That had to be one of the times that money was tighter, because his dad had not imposed his will or opinion on him past a certain age when Yugi was growing up. Maybe he had thought the color was disgusting and a waste of money when they had been about to buy it. He glanced at the other boy's face once more, drawing the situation back into focus in his mind as he found the pensive expression that was slowly falling into something else. "What? What's wrong?"

The other shrugged his shoulders but did not look at him as he focused on the comforter again. Yugi could see his mouth working, mumbling under his breath in such a way that the smaller was unable to hear him. He reached out to touch his shoulder and the other boy recoiled as if he had thought he was going to stab him. He was back on his haunches suddenly, snarling viciously like a wild animal with eyes that flashed like fresh lava.

"Don't. _Touch_. Me!" he spat, bristling and bunching in on himself for a moment, pulling his limbs together and seeming to try to take up less room on the comforter. He was uncomfortable and miserable, the two emotions bleeding and threatening to drown the smaller boy at any moment. But he didn't understand what could have brought about such a change in him and he had no idea if he had the right to ask about it. He thought if he opened his mouth the other might flee. He doubted that the red-eyed teen would keep a conversation in such a state, especially if he felt that he was being poked at. It was just one of those little things that Yugi didn't really understand but had a grasp on in the few times that they had been together.

He had spent days in between the boy's little disappearance trying to figure out some way to tell when he would run, when he would fight back, what offended him. But he had not failed to realize that he had only instinct to go on and some uncommon sense about what would make _him _withdraw. It was unsettling comparing himself to the other male, however, like trying to say that fire would not burn or ice did not melt, an obvious lie and something that should never have been done. There were too many contrasts and the boy ran too quickly for him to truly think about, and all of it just made his head spin more than it did help him to even attempt understanding.

"Why are you still speaking to me?" the boy said suddenly, voice curling into a menacing undertone. His eyes narrowed, searching his face thoroughly, and his lips curled back to bare his teeth so that they glittered once more where the moonlight graced them.

"Do you not want me to speak to you?"

"Do you think you should _be _talking to me?"

"I don't know…I just…I feel like…maybe I owe it to you? I mean…I don't…I don't know. I don't know what I mean either."

The boy blinked at the small laugh that escaped him, awkward and tinier than even the space of the room.

"Look, I want to help you." He paused, studying where the light hit his eyes and gave birth to the red of his irises where they looked almost black in the shadows. Yugi blinked, surprised by the way that they now seemed to be absorbing the darkness and completely banishing the moonlight where the opposite usually seemed to be true. His eyes no longer seemed to be glowing but for a small ringlet around his pupils, so thin and small that it looked almost nonexistent. "I don't know how I can do it, but if we can talk, maybe it will help."

The other boy stayed quiet for a long minute and Yugi swore he heard him breathe in a sharp withdraw of air, deep and scathing, and then finally he exhaled and the words curled up in his ears, hissing like serpents.

"You don't _owe _me anything. And I honestly don't know how much good it will do between us to even bother."

"But doesn't it frustrate you how dependent we seem to be of each other? You said yourself that you need me, that I need you. And it's obvious that you don't want to be here but you are. You don't want to have to deal with me but you _know _you need to at least be near me. That irritation you're feeling could just be from being here but it could also be because you hate the fact you have to be around me in the first place. If we can figure out a way to work with it, then wouldn't things be so much easier?"

"I have no reason to try to make life easier for you."

"I know that. But what about yourself?"

"I like challenges."

Yugi couldn't help but laugh at his stubborn response, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "Right. Because someone actually _could _enjoy a situation like this."

He opened his mouth to argue and then fell silent again, looking away slowly and narrowing his eyes. The smaller boy thought that maybe he was looking at the Puzzle but when he turned his head to glance at it, he found him staring at the corner where the walls connected with the ceiling behind the nightstand.

"You know the walls aren't going to suddenly close in or something, don't you?"

"It doesn't help that it is so tiny."

"I know." He shrugged and gave him a small smile. "Super tiny, huh?"

"It is." For a moment the red-eyed teen kept his gaze glued to the juncture of the wall, tilting his head. His teeth dug into his bottom lip for a split second before his head turned back to him, a small bit of confusion creeping into his voice. "Why is it so small?"

"I don't think Grandpa originally planned to have his daughter and grandson living with him," he explained, blinking and wondering if this curiosity was a true offering of interest or if it was just something that came about because of whatever it was that existed between them. Then, of course, the inevitable question of whether such a thing mattered finally crossed through his mind. Was there even a difference in that matter? He looked at him for a long moment, read the interest in the way his head was turned solely towards him and his eyes were burning into his skin. He was leaning forward slightly, just enough that it was noticeable and he could feel the chill of his skin against his with the close proximity. His hands, Yugi noticed, had moved to his lap to settle on his thighs as if he were an excited child waiting for a story. He knew that he would never be able to picture this boy in such an innocent light, but the posture worked in the favor of a misleading charm. And he couldn't help but be a little happy with the idea of him being interested in him. He selfishly wished he would be. Maybe it would open up a way for them to start working together or something… "I think this was going to just be his home with the game shop beneath, living alone after Grandma died. I mean, we would have come around to visit him sometimes, but I think this was actually going to be his study and my mom's room would be a game room or souvenir room for him to store artifacts from Egypt. I don't honestly know though."

"Living alone seems like a waste."

"Of what?"

"Space, time…effort?"

"But…you seem like a loner," Yugi commented after a moment, frowning slightly as he looked at the other boy who turned his face away with a scoff that sounded almost like a dark laugh. "I mean, I don't…I just…There's something about you that makes you seem like…that…"

"That's because I am. Or I _was_. But obviously that will no longer work now if I am tied to you so tediously."

"Are you really never going to forgive me for this? I don't even know what the hell I've done to bring you here and if I could send you back, I would. Why can't you just…?" He trailed off, shaking his head and chewing his lip until it bled.

"Why can't I just what? _Forgive _you?" he sneered, voice taking on a bitter enough tone to make it twist into an almost brittle pitch. His shoulders stiffened somewhat, his lips curling back to bare his teeth in open hatred. "You think that you deserve to be forgiven? Because you what? _Feel bad _for bringing me here?"

"It was a mistake—"

"That is damn well affecting both of our lives, you bastard," he snarled, cutting him off immediately. "It is a mistake that should surely cost you your life. It is irreversible and brought with such ignorance that I should rip your head off and stuff it up your ass. You foolish little child, bringing me here because you could not keep your fucking hands off things that you should never have been exposed to. For eight years it eluded you and yet you never thought to give up. I do not know if that was pure determination or the inability to lose or if it was just you being plain _stupid _but here I am, because you have dragged me out of _my _world and into _this_."

Yugi flinched backwards, hitting his head against the board harshly when he sprang. He was snarling like a feral wolf, all teeth and the most guttural noise like the distant booming of thunder, blazing eyes and murderous intent. The smaller teen stared up at him, about to apologize again before falling silent once more.

"You're like a fucking parasite. You dragged me out of my home and sank your nails into me and I have to deal with this—this _thing_ inside of me. I woke up sick and sore all over," he spat, shivering once and then pulling away from him to take up his former spot. Yugi had the sudden idea that perhaps the other boy thought the small bit of body warmth he possessed was completely trapped in the blanket there and he could maybe get it back if he took that seat again. The thought made him tip his head to the side, blinking wide eyes as he stared at the other boy in open confusion. He pulled himself into a seated position again and found himself the prime target of such intense hatred that he barely resisted flinching beneath the scornful glare. Yugi was unsure if the other boy was even breathing anymore, his body completely still and held in place as if he had just locked eyes with Medusa. Then he blinked and raised his head slightly, challenging, just enough to let Yugi know that he considered this to be weakness and he hated it.

"You don't have to tell me," he said quickly after a long moment, the other boy stiffening at the unfamiliar warmth in his voice which bordered on pity and was so completely unwelcome that his lips pulled back into a silent snarl. It was really only while he was looking at him that he realized just how much he had alienated him in the last few minutes. The other boy had been expecting him to fight with him and the gentle approach where he was ready to dig his teeth into his throat was alarming for him. The red-eyed boy obviously desired to have the animosity between them back, to be given something that was familiar to him if only for a moment. He had to seem like a complete stranger to him now.

"Then I won't," he finally snapped, though the words came out a little strange and awkward, as if he had not even given thought to consider the idea of expecting himself to speak them. His gaze flickered to the clock on the desk, the little arms and the taped on plastic that made up the eyes with the little sharpie lines drawn in to give it a determined look. "Go to sleep."

He almost argued but then realized that the boy was hardly stupid. Even if he was not exactly open to learning everything in the world surrounding him, even if he did not care to have Yugi teach him or really even admit to not understanding. He must have figured out that he left for school during the week and was free two days out of seven unless something happened to give him a day off. He must have known well enough when he was allowed to wake him in the middle of the night like this, and exactly what days to do it in order to cut his sleep in half. It was a small bit hilarious to consider, and he smirked in amusement at the thought, the boy's darker nature far more apparent in that moment than it seemed otherwise.

"What about you?"

The boy lowered his eyes to where Yugi had caught his arm, holding tightly and refusing to budge even as he stared at his fingers. He blinked once, a long and drawn out motion, and then turned on him with his teeth bared, snarling low in his throat. "Do not touch me!"

"I'll let go of you as soon as you tell me what you're going to do."

His lips curled back, head turning to where he was touching him once more. "That is none of your business," the red-eyed teen snapped viciously, gaze narrowing into shards of glowing ruby. His teeth glinted in the moonlight once more and his head tilted to the side, a low rumbling snarl rising further into the air.

"I think it is. And I care enough to ask. I care enough to worry. I think you should be kind enough to tell me."

"Kind? Kind enough to tell you? Fuck you, pathetic human bastard. I am not about to be 'kind' to you."

"Listen, I know you hate this, and I am not so keen on it, honestly—"

"Right, because that curiosity you hold doesn't make you interested enough to regard me as a test subject," the boy sneered, glaring at him furiously and curling his lips back once more. His canines seemed to be glowing now, as if he had somehow managed to absorb all of the outside light into making them burn. "Do you take me for stupid? You don't _care_. You merely want answers and I have no reason to even feel _inclined _to give you one."

"Don't get so mad because I'm curious when it comes to you. I'm curious about everything," Yugi stated gently, trying in vain to think of a way to make him feel more inclined to speak to him. He only realized a moment later that maybe he should have snapped at him to make him feel better. The only emotion he projected now was a confused alarm that made his skin crawl. "I wouldn't poke my nose in your business if it didn't feel like I needed to, okay? I worry when you aren't around. It's…it's really hard being around you and then having you disappear and return again. I just…Tell me where you're going?"

"I don't know yet," he snarled, grabbing his hand and pinching his skin harshly with his nails so that he loosened his grip enough to let him pull it away. Yugi caught his arm with his free hand, making the air crackle with frustration at the contact. "Release me already."

"No, I want you to stay here."

The truth inside of that statement made them both freeze in place momentarily. The other teen's head whipped towards him, eyes narrowing into slits and lips curling back once more. Yugi blinked once and offered a tentative smile, swallowing hard and watching him as he tried to think of a way to make the conversation's heavier weight lessen somewhat.

"Please stay here tonight. I want you to stay with me."

"Why the fuck should I do anything to put _your _mind at ease?"

"Because it's not one-sided and you know that," he argued, shaking his head slowly and smiling a little wider when he saw the boy's jaw clench for a moment, obviously looking for an argument and falling flat. "This affects both of us. It's pretty obvious that we need to be around each other. I got sick the first time that you pulled something stupid when you ran. And you weren't looking too great when I saw you the time after that. Besides, what's so wrong with wanting you to have somewhere to spend the night?"

"Perhaps it might be the fact that the company would be _you_. Or because it would be much easier if you did not have your head shoved so far up my ass to begin with," he spat, trying to pull his arm away and snarling when Yugi kept his grip. His skin was too warm against his and the red-eyed teen wanted nothing more than to rip his hand off at that moment. "Let go of me."

"No. Listen, okay? It's an easy enough concept, okay? If we are near each other, we feel better. If you spend the night here with me, I won't have to worry about you when I go back to sleep, right? You can leave as soon as I get up again, but just spend the night here. With me."

He tried again to take his hand off his arm and Yugi moved closer to him, halting the action. For a moment he remained still, as if the life had been drawn out of him with the close proximity, and then he finally moved again. His red eyes were peering at him through his long lashes, his lips were curling back in undiluted hatred, and finally he shook his head slowly in avid frustration.

"I am not going to let you go. I want you to stay here."

"I wish I could kill you."

"Well you can't, so _tough_."

He bared his teeth and snarled so softly that his skin crawled momentarily. Yugi grinned after a moment, tilting his head slightly to make his appearance seem more friendly and open.

"Take off your shoes and lay down with me."

"Did I not tell you that I bow to _no one_?"

"Yes, you said that gods don't bow. But you're flesh and bones and most gods aren't. And besides that, there's no bowing involved. It's just a matter of being comfortable when you fall asleep."

"You are trying to lock me up and keep me prisoner."

"No, if I were going to do that, I would have done it with handcuffs."

"Hand…what?"

He had a moment where the thought of handcuffs brought back forward various sexual scenarios from porn tapes. His lips threatened to tug upwards at the thought and he bit back laughter at the concept. What would the other boy do if he saw those images in his head? With how often he kept shoving his hands down his pants, he thought maybe he might try to use those pictures to his advantage. For a split second he wanted to laugh, almost enticed by the idea, but instead shook it off.

"Nothing. Just come on. It's getting late and I want to be able to say I slept for a little while before I go to school in the morning," he grumbled softly, using his free hand to cover his mouth as he yawned. He watched the way the other boy stubbornly clenched his jaw and crossed his arms, seemingly debating the statement. But mostly the movement made it just that much more obvious he was not happy with the arrangements that Yugi had proposed he work with. "Please?"

The way the word came out sounded like an innocent plea but dragged itself out like a begging whine and the other boy stared at him for a long minute. It took a moment before the other boy finally glanced at his feet and moved to swing his legs over the edge of the bed. Yugi bit back a purr of satisfaction, surprised by the noise that threatened to bubble up from his chest, and smiled widely as the other kicked his shoes off but did not move.

"I do not want to."

"Please?"

He huffed and Yugi smiled again as he finally moved over to him and for a moment the smaller teen was alarmed when he almost curled up on top the comforter. A small moment of confusion passed between them and he stared before finally pulling the sheets back in invitation. The other boy hesitated for a long minute. His eyes were cold and calculating, glinting like knives in the darkness, and slowly he glanced at Yugi in a pensive questioning glare. Finally he moved forward to plop down on his stomach and Yugi had to pull the blankets from beneath him, surprised that he suddenly seemed almost to weigh a ton. Were shadows supposed to be light or heavy…?

"I am _not _a shadow," the boy snarled viciously, spinning on him with glowing eyes. Their faces were inches apart suddenly, his teeth bared once more and his breath cold enough to make Yugi shiver. "Refrain from considering me as such."

Yugi blinked and nodded. "Okay, sure. I just…what am I supposed to call you then?"

"A god," he spat, turning away and laying his cheek forcefully against the cooled cotton of his sheets. Yugi was still unsure of how much validation that idea had, whether or not to comment on it, but was grateful when the other decided not to spit at him once more. "I am a god. Trapped in a human body."

"That's…something, I guess," the smaller teen muttered, shaking his head slightly as he pulled the blankets over him. He guessed it was better that the other boy was turned away and laying in the deeper shadows because he was pretty sure otherwise he would have been picturing things that he really had no right to. "Do you sleep?"

"Do I sleep?" he sneered bitterly, turning towards him to snarl before pausing and seeming to consider. For a moment they stared at each and the other boy blinked before sighing and reaching over to steal the pillow from him somewhat. Yugi grinned lopsidedly at the action, amused out of his mind by the thought of the feigned reluctance that came with it. It was pretty obvious now that he was laying down just how exhausted and comfortable he was with the pillow under his head and the blankets drawn up to his shoulders. But the smaller boy himself still seemed to remain an entirely different concept, a threat that he was attempting to navigate. "Not much."

"By choice?"

"…Sometimes." He didn't elaborate and the smaller teen didn't bother to ask him to, instead struggling under the covers and reaching out to touch his hand. The other boy started to pull it away from him, seemingly uncomfortable, but then simply left it. Yugi was not sure if that was because of the extra warmth that came with the action or if it was just because he didn't care enough to do it anymore.

Maybe he was winning their little fight after all.

Or not.

Yugi woke up a few hours later to an empty bed but body warmth that the other boy had not previously possessed while resting in the sheets next to him. It was obvious that he had been there only moments before and Yugi thought that perhaps that was what had stirred the small teen out of his blissful sleep. He had not been very receptive to sleeping in the first place, having skipped out on it far too long in the time that the other boy had been missing. He didn't think he had slept at all—maybe three hours in between the last eighteen days—and now he had been snatched away from a dream that he had been so deeply enveloped in. It had to be the most rest he had gotten in a while, far better than he had ever managed on his own, even if it was only for about two or three hours.

His stomach growled softly and he winced, stretching himself out and lightly running his fingers over the spot the other boy had slept in. He was pretty sure sometime in the middle of they night they had managed to tangle themselves together completely. His legs had been tied with the other boy's, hands still touching, maybe even the other twisted enough to press his cheek against his chest, his head under his chin. But he was not certain because the image in his head seemed as if it could have easily been a dream rather than reality and he was a little frustrated by such an idea. He wanted it to be real, as selfish a desire as that was. It was just so desperate an idea that it made him want to grasp it and hold it tightly, never let it go…

He was unsure but he thought the other boy had been gone from the room for only a handful of seconds. It seemed far more likely too, considering. The bed was still warm, his aura was just starting to fade, wisps of light chills caressing his skin like sunbeams.

Yugi sat up and rolled his shoulders out, looking around for a moment before glancing slowly towards the nightstand, sudden surprise and alarm prickling at his senses. The Puzzle wasn't there…

He nearly bit through his cheek when he nearly toppled over the edge of the nightstand. The Puzzle lay on the ground, seemingly growing, and now that Yugi was staring at it, he swore he smelled something like burned flesh. It was almost dissipated but there was just enough to make him tilt his head in question.

It was not a question what had happened.

He had tried to take the Puzzle.

Why was a question. When was another. How it had burned him was one.

Yugi frowned as he stared at it and reached down to snatch it by its thick chain, pulling it up and slipping it over his neck. It seemed to grow warm for a split second before becoming as cold as it always was, rivaling the chill of the other teen's skin. He ran his fingers over the gold for a moment and then frowned before glancing at the skylight and narrowing his eyes, taking in the clouds and how white they were. He licked his lips, smiling and momentarily forgetting about the other boy and the questions he felt multiplying in his head. Eventually—maybe even later that day—snow would fall and he could feel a little winter pleasure.

* * *

**Updates for all stories are definitely going to slow down after this one.**


	11. Chapter XI

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Warning: Cursing should be relatively mild but sometimes grows a little more at times, Season 0 Yami...and he's a little more unhinged than usual, so keep that in mind**.

**Note: There are mentions of blood, some graphic images of death, sensual moments and feelings, touches of violence/abuse**

**Update Schedule: I was going for bi-weekly updates, but it's definitely not looking that way now :P**

**Writing Note: I'm trying a new, more descriptive style for a story I plan to write later so tell me how I did with it?**

**Anyways, the story is a way to help get rid of some writer's block I'm dealing with so it's serving as a style-trial and a way to get back into writing.**

**WARNING! A LARGE MAJORITY OF THIS IS VIOLENCE AND BLOODSHED! And some heavy delusions in Yami's mind that will make sense later. GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF VIOLENCE/BLOODSHED AND HINTS OF INSANITY! This gives you a more full view of just how dangerously out of his mind Yami actually is. And how much worse he can get at times. BUT! If you want to skip the description of his near-kill, you can either skip the chapter or simply read the dialogue, though there isn't much in this one. You also get a hint of just how Yami's mind works with MOST situations/interactions with Yugi and how violently he tends to react to things (especially this situation).**

Chapter XI

"Dude, holy shit, I didn't know that you had a twin!" Tristan commented, gawking at the door and making Yugi spin around, eyes wide and hopeful. His heart skipped and his mouth went dry for a moment, exuberated by the sight of him as his lips attempted to curl up into a wide grin of happiness and relief.

The taller teen was looking around slowly. His head was not turned any which way but his eyes were scanning rapidly, taking in all of the others in the room. He had no idea if that was because he was searching for him or if it was just for his own curiosity. Dark red eyes were glinting violently beneath the fluorescent lights, the games lending them a rather vicious glare. His lashes cut parts of them in half but Yugi could see even with the distance that his irises were reflecting everything around him unconsciously.

Finally his eyes snapped towards him first and then his head jerked to regard him. His eyes narrowed faintly, glittering with something like pure malice and hatred, and for a moment he thought he might speak—whether out loud or in his head, he was unsure—but it passed immediately. A girl had wandered forward, coming up behind him. His shoulders were rising, his eyes were narrowing further. She opened her mouth, most likely to flirt, and then began speaking.

He spun on her so quickly that she stepped back with a shocked expression. Yugi could hear the snarl even if he couldn't make out the words. They were too low but the rumble he let out was something akin a tiger's warning hiss. Her face turned bright red as he looked on and she stumbled back again. Then the taller teen had turned on his heel before he could blink.

He took two strides, swift and stiff, and was in front of him. Yugi leaped from his stool, almost like a startled or horribly excited animal. He didn't want to give the other an opportunity to sink his teeth into his friends as well. But he was also impatient to be able to speak to him and he was unsure of which of these desires was more prominent.

"I need to speak to you."

The words came out in a low growl that made his red eyes flash and flicker briefly towards his friends. Yugi nodded immediately, glancing at them and wishing he hadn't. Tea looked stunned, blinking wide blue eyes, and he could see her jaw twitching slightly with a movement that said she wanted to talk but was afraid to. Joey looked too surprised to really even do much more than sit up straight and stare with wide brown eyes. And Tristan looked as if he wanted to flee, as if the other's ice cold aura had rushed over him and his instincts were caught in a fight-or-flight.

"Give me a second, guys."

His voice was enough to make them blink and then nod at him awkwardly, keen on avoiding looking at the newcomer. He opened his mouth to say something further but wound up wincing as the other teen's hand grasped his wrist a little too tightly and he was tugged along towards the entrance. Yugi stumbled after him the first couple of steps, shocked by the force put into the movements, as if the other were barely resisting stomping his feet.

It was only when they got out there that he realized it was his restraint that had made his movements so heavy and awkward. He had barely resisted the urge to turn around and claw his throat open and that had only been accomplished by the long strides and vice grip he had on his wrist.

He yelped loudly as his back hit the brick wall immediately after the realization passed through him. Pain shot through his system as the hand around his wrist released only to be replaced by one around his throat, pinning him there. The fingers squeezed tightly enough that he couldn't fight away an involuntary, breathless gasp as he squirmed violently in his grip for a split second.

"What the fuck have you done to me?" he snarled viciously, like a rabid animal that was closing in on his throat. He squeezed again, stars bursting behind Yugi's eyes, and then released him abruptly as his own throat began to constrict violently. He bit back a whimper at the sensation, fighting away the urge to rub at his stinging flesh. How Yugi had managed not to claw at his wrists and struggle and all but scream was a mystery to him. The moment that Yugi blinked his eyes open again, staring at him with a pained expression, he found himself pinned to the wall again. The hand was cold and rested loosely but he knew already without tempting fate that if he tried to slip out of his grip, the taller teen would crush him as he had moments before.

He was staring at him, however, with an expression that he couldn't read, and after a moment his palm pressed a bit more fully into his throat. Yugi thought it was because he had not answered him, but the reality was that the boy couldn't bring himself to pull it away completely. He was not sure what possessed him to keep it there, but he thought perhaps it was the warmth that greeted him there where the skin was reddening drastically and the blood was rising furiously to the surface.

Yugi blinked at him in open confusion, swallowing and then beginning to force his mouth to move. The boy was watching him expectantly now but stiffened drastically and nearly recoiled when the smaller teen changed direction to make his voice sound in his head.

_What do you mean_?

"You know damn well what I mean," he spat, bristling but feeling overwhelmed with his own confusion piling onto Yugi's. His palm was beginning to tingle and burn faintly but he refused to pull it away, instead staring. He could feel his thoughts circulating again, falling back into that small pattern that was troublesome and hard to understand. What could possibly be going on that this brat had nothing to do with? How could that even be possible? He had brought him there, had bound him to him like this. He had everything to do with everything, didn't he? And even if he did not, he needed something that he could actually lunge and lash out at and the small teen was truly just that. He was the physical manifestation of everything that was wrong with him at the moment. He was the one that had dragged him into this godforsaken world, who had made him bleed and severed him like someone cutting his skin open. He had broken him somehow, had made him into something that should never have existed, and he didn't know what the hell he was supposed to do about it all. "You did this! You did this to me!"

Yugi gently reached up to touch the sides of his wrist, squeezing the bone lightly in warning. The other boy glanced at their hands for a moment and the smaller teen weaseled a finger beneath his thumb, trying to pull it back some. It was pressing into his Adam's apple, making it hard to speak, and it was obvious that speaking to him mentally was an unwelcome option. And there was no reason for him to make the other more uncomfortable as it was. He might not kill him just yet and he had a feeling that pushing him too far could be what would throw him over the edge of not caring anymore. If he pushed hard enough, the boy might snap, and then he'd kill him for sure…

"I don't know what you mean," he admitted, frowning before looking at him for a moment and shaking his head slowly. He debated telling him to move his hand down some but then fell silent again.

The other boy seemed to be weighing his words, red eyes unsure as he stared at him. His expression had turned from a snarl to careful consideration, lips pulled into a tight line that mirrored something of a grimace. His head was tilted the slightest bit to the side and his jaw seemed to be working as if he were chewing his cheek or a muscle was ticking beneath his skin. His eyes flickered between his, darkening before they grew brighter and then seemed to mellow in shade, boring into his unhappily.

Was he telling the truth? He had told him on several occasions already that he did not know what he meant. He didn't seem like he was going to start lying out of the blue like his mind was leading him towards believing. He wanted to snarl at him angrily and whimper in his own misery, unsure of himself and so tired of everything going on in his head and this new world. There were so many things wrong with all of it, that he had no words to explain or even pictures to describe. He didn't know how to push his memories on the other or even if he wanted to, because some of the things in his mind were horrifying and he knew Yugi would be scarred. The emotional damage that the smaller teen would undergo would certainly have an effect on him with the rate that this new miserable life was going.

The thought made his teeth dig harder into his cheek and he momentarily thought he might have bitten through it. His skin felt numb and his gums almost nonexistent, a disconnected sensation pushing through him before he could think straight. The smaller teen was blinking at the emotion and his eyes were widening as the other boy pressed his hand into his throat. The warning was clear enough and so Yugi stayed silent, merely watching him as he continued to think his options over.

For a moment they merely stared at each other. His thoughts filtered one by one from his head as if they were leaves caught on branches that the wind had stirred too violently to remain attached to. His mind was disturbingly empty as he chewed his cheek again and lessened his grip. But his skin still prickled with uncertainty and his mouth felt strange and disconnected from his body, as if maybe his body heat had dropped substantially in that one area.

Yugi thought for a moment that he might speak again but the door swung open suddenly. His eyes shot towards the entrance, widening in horror as he took in the situation with a panic that made his stomach twist violently.

"Get your hands off my best friend!"

The red-eyed teen did not so much as look at him. His head tilted away for a moment instead. Yugi watched him, feeling his heart lurch and drop into his stomach as he saw that his thoughtful expression was lost. Instead his eyes were growing bright like fresh, fallen blood, and his lips were peeling back over his teeth into a wide smirk as he sneered, "_Make _me, bitch."

Yugi tried to shake his head, opening his mouth to tell them all to stop. He yelped as the blond shot towards them. Tristan came a second later. The small teen froze in place. His heart was skipping now. His breathing was coming out in strained puffs of white air. He trembled once.

He could try to convince the boy to release him. Or he could attempt to tell them that he was fine.

His look-alike's smirk grew tenfold. Yugi flinched. Joey got a face full of his shoe when he pivoted just enough to kick him. Tristan watched the blond hit the ground. His hazel eyes were wide with shock. His mouth had fallen open slightly. Tea let out a shriek for them to stop. The brunet ignored her and came after him anyways. He got himself punched hard enough to go toppling. He rolled like a rag doll for a foot and then stopped on top of Joey.

"Stop!" Yugi finally squeaked. He reached up to grab his wrist and squeezed sharply. His nails were digging into his skin. His bones were rigid beneath the pads of his fingers. They were so thin and sharp and Yugi was nearly deterred by the shock of the sensation. He felt like he was skin and bones.

The movement got him nowhere. Instead the red-eyed teen ignored him. His head tilted and his eyes flickered to the brunette. She was staring at him, horrified, letting out a little shriek of horror. She froze but the noise got a little louder. It was nothing like a scream but Yugi knew it would develop into one if she got enough time.

His red eyes narrowed, focused on her. "Keep shrieking and you'll be next," he snapped.

"Don't!" the blue-violet-eyed teen cried. He sunk his nails into his skin more viciously. Blood was beginning to slowly rise from the crescent-shaped marks. He winced and the pain made him recoil. The boy was not even looking at him, instead staring at Tea with his lip curled back. She was shaking, having gone silent, and her wide eyes were horrified once more. "Please, just stop for a second…"

The boy waited a brief moment and then sneered, "There goes your second."

"You difficult little prick," the smaller teen breathed, shaking his head. At another time that actually would have made him laugh. But Joey and Tristan were getting up now. And the boy was watching them. His eyes were glowing with laughter. His teeth were gleaming where the light hit them. His canines seemed sharper than they had even when he had first appeared. His grip on his throat was almost nonexistent now. And he knew exactly what that meant for the other two.

"No, guys, don't—" he started, nearly shouting the words.

He listened in some kind of distorted bubble of noise. Tea was screeching now. Her hands were covering her face. The boy dropped him. His wrist slipped from his fingers without effort, slicked with blood. His lips pulled back more fully. Yugi winced as Joey caught a punch. The blond went flying backwards into Tristan. Both of them fell into a heap. They scrambled for their footing again.

The red-eyed teen backed up two steps exactly. Yugi watched with horror as Joey collided with him. The two of them rolled with the impact only once. Joey let out a noise of frustration. The other teen laughed out loud. Yugi swore under his breath. Tristan stood aside trying to find an opening. Tea was watching with a hand over her mouth.

Blood was spraying the air now. Yugi couldn't tell whose it was but he was willing to bet it wasn't the other boy's. He squeezed his eyes shut for a split second. When he opened them again, they were pulling apart. The red-eyed teen was laughing, a barking noise. It sounded almost like a choked cough of amusement. Joey stumbled to his feet after a moment. Yugi couldn't see a visible wound at the moment.

The blond rushed him again. The red-eyed teen smirked wider. He sidestepped and then caught him by the back of the head. His palm was flat as it smacked the back of his skull. Joey hit the ground with a loud snapping noise.

Yugi trembled. It sounded like a bone in his face had just been broken…

"_Stop_!" He almost didn't recognize that he was the one speaking. His eyes were wide and terrified. He stumbled forward, staring at Tristan pleadingly. "Don't touch him! Don't—just stop!"

The brunet looked at him as if he was crazy. Tea shrieked, "Yugi, he just—oh my god, Joey isn't _moving_!"

Yugi turned his head, staring at the other boy in horror. For a moment the red-eyed teen didn't pay attention to him. And then he was leaning over to roll the blond onto his back, sneering, "Oh please, I didn't hurt him too much." The blond's nose was gushing like a faucet of bright red. Yugi opened and closed his mouth once, trembling. "See? Perfectly alive…and well. For the moment anyways."

"No," Yugi snarled, forcing his voice to come out rough and authoritatively. "Stop it."

The boy blinked slowly once, as if he were not sure what he was hearing and needed to clarify. His jaw twitched violently once but he didn't look up. "Who the fuck are you to tell me what to do? You? The boy who can't protect his friends—let alone himself? Poor, _stupid_ little boy," he commented leisurely, laughing out loud once before getting closer to the blond. He crouched down, moving his knee to press into his abdomen. The blond was screaming now, struggling, and his arms pushed at the smaller teen's stomach. He didn't even blink at the touch, instead leaning forward and grabbing him around the throat. "Hmm, what do you think, _Joseph_? Should I break your neck or strangle you, hmm? Maybe decapitation works better? I have _not_ tried that one yet."

"Yami, _stop_!"

His head snapped towards him immediately. His eyes were bright and dilated and confused. Alarms were going off in both of their heads at the statement that had just come out of his mouth. He blinked and Yugi breathed once before forcing himself to relax just enough that he was not panting. Adrenaline was making his limbs shake and his legs threatened to fold in on themselves.

He gave him a small forceful nod and breathed out a small noise of relief that sounded half-strangled as it clawed its way out of his throat. "Yeah, yeah, I, uh…Ha, figured out your name," he commented, nodding again. He offered him a small, sheepish smile, and the other boy stared at him blankly. "Now…don't touch him anymore, okay?"

For a split second it looked as if his words were going in one ear and out the other. And then his eyes narrowed. His lips curled back. His teeth glinted. A snarl rose violently, scraping upwards and gurgling with its force so that it sounded like he was choking on blood. His frame shook once. His shoulders rose.

He locked eyes with him again. Yugi shivered. He looked ready to kill him despite the repercussions that would come with it. His eyes flashed like broken gems and fallen blood. The rings around his pupils grew bright for a moment before slowly spreading outwards. "You little _shit_!" he snarled angrily, lunging forward. Something was still gripping his shirt and another was holding his arm.

Yugi froze in place, horrified. Joey was holding him there. The other teen blinked once slowly. And his head turned a fraction. His eyes shot to the blond's, and they stared at each other for a moment. The taller teen looked as if he wanted to slug him. But the exhaustion was obvious. And he could do nothing more than hold him there.

He blinked again and then purred, "Right. You first."

His hands had gotten to his throat just as Yugi snarled, "Leave him alone, Yami." The smaller teen was shaking as he looked at the red-eyed boy, taking in the immediate situation. He had no doubt that the boy could and _would _tear Joey's head off if he really attempted it and he didn't want that to happen. Of course he didn't want anything even remotely like that to happen…

_Yami_…

_Yami_…

Yami…

Yami.

His skull pounded with pain and unfamiliarity. The word was echoing in his ears. His skin felt as if it were searing and melting off his body. His bones were popping beneath his muscles, sharp with pain. They were breaking in his ears. The name was consuming his thoughts. He narrowed his eyes. His vision was dancing and scattering. It was too bright and yet it was growing darker all at once. Spots were beginning to appear in front of his eyes. He would not have been surprised if he were bleeding from the sockets now. His mouth was hot and tasted of it. His nails felt thick and heavy, laden with liquid. His skin felt sickly wet as if he were sweating beneath the sun once more.

_Yami_.

Yami.

The word was curling in his brain and spreading through him like venom, alive and burning beneath his skin. The boy was binding him. He was binding him to him. The boy was…he was…he had _named _him.

His hands closed around the blond's throat regardless. His eyes were glowing around the pupils even as the pain laced through him. He may not have been able to kill the boy. But he could do just as well. His friends were his beacon, his strength. He could kill them. And he would do _just as good _as ending the boy himself.

His nails sank into his flesh. Blood immediately greeted them. His fingers tingled with the warmth it brought. His eyes glowed feverishly, desperate. He gripped harder, about to rip through his paper-thin muscle. He would snap his bone. He would split it straight down the middle of one of its vertebrae. He'd tug his head straight off and let it roll—

He went to pull when a hand touched his cheek and turned his head. His nerve endings were burning. His muscles were aching sharply beneath his skin. His lungs constricted. His throat felt as if it had been stabbed. His head was swimming. His cheek felt as if it had been caught on fire. His vision was fuzzy somehow, almost watery. His lips pulled back and he began to force a snarl through his chest and upwards but wound up freezing in place. Yugi's mouth was against his suddenly. His lips were firm yet soft at the same time.

His lips tingled and burned, feeling as if they might shatter. His cheek ached and his skin felt bruised and sore. His throat gave way to a small desperate whimper that died away immediately. He was shaking where he gripped Joey's skin. He was burning to death where he and Yugi were touching. His head felt as if a war drum were playing between his ears. His thoughts were nonexistent safe for registering where he hurt. His fingers felt slick but cold. His lungs felt weak and strained. He thought his tongue was shriveling and burning away against Yugi's. His heart was beating too quickly. His face felt as if it might melt away beneath the smaller boy's touch.

_Yami_…

He shivered.

Yami.

He nearly vomited.

The boy had just condemned him. More than he had before.

He nearly laughed into his mouth. His eyes grew owlish. His grip loosened slightly. Joey's blood soaked his finger pads. His stomach twisted painfully. The idea left him startled and feeling more brutally disconnected than he already was. His head was spinning violently now.

Did he actually know what he had just done to him? Or was this just some kind of childish decision he had made on his part to _give _him a _name_?

It was almost as demeaning as if the boy had gone about deciding to keep him in a cage where he would feed him twice a day. It was like he had snapped a collar around his neck. Then again…the boy already _wore _a godforsaken collar and because he wore one…_he _wore one too.

He blinked and tried to think of a way to fight back. His mind was circulating violently around this thought like a whirlpool. Bile was rising upwards in the back of his throat. His body was beginning to burn again.

He was lost in some kind of forsaken place between insanity and sharp disbelief. He was teetering; he could fall at any moment. If his sanity was lost, he would have _nothing left_. But the addition of a _name_. An unwanted, pathetic little word attached to his being. One that gave him more life than he needed. One that left him completely if not _sorely _stranded. One that left him bound to this world. One that…gave the boy power…

_Yami_…

How could he possibly do this to him?

He had brought him here without even meaning to. He had forced him to suffer in some kind of broken haze that was far too strong. He had brought him into a world where everything was just too bright and loud and there were _more _than just the multiple voices that had whispered in his head. He had given him a life that he had not wanted or needed. He had given him a form he had no desire for. He had engraved in him the dire need of a broken half that relied on the other to even _survive_. And now he had bound him to him completely. He had bound him to the point that he could not even truly leave him even if he managed to find his way out of the loophole that seemed to have become _him_.

Why…?

_Yami _drew a breath when Yugi pulled away. He was shaking, staring at the smaller boy's large blue-violet eyes. Those irises were gleaming with a desperate plea for him to listen, to spare the stupid blond. He stared blankly. A gurgling noise registered in the back of his mind. Joey was breathing. He was gurgling. Because he was using his nose still instead of his mouth. He caught the gasp of a noise that was released a moment later. His eyes flickered towards the source in confusion, startled and blank. The brunette concubine had her mouth covered, staring. The boy next to her let out a surprised grunt.

He slowly turned his eyes back on Yugi. The smaller teen was still staring at him with that pleading expression. His voice was slowly but surely slithering into his head. He was trying to talk to him but he honestly could not understand a word of it. He blinked slowly, staring at him again. Yugi tilted his head, concerned, and then reached out.

He stumbled backwards violently, trying to put distance between them. Yugi followed for a second. A hand touched his forehead. He smacked it away. His shoulders were rising, shaking. His breathing was coming out funny. His heart was hammering and he couldn't understand why.

His lungs ached. His head was beginning to feel light again. Yugi's voice was curling around in his mind. A foreign, worried ache was beginning to assault his senses. His skin felt unnaturally heavy and colder than usual. His vision was still blurred at the edges, given laces of black like clumped eyelashes. His ears were ringing, that gurgling making his head pound.

He got closer again, about to crouch down and speak. He was going to try to make the other boy focus somewhat. He needed him to listen and then let Joey go. He needed him to just calm down and—

_Yami _shoved him away as if he had just coated him in gasoline and was ready to strike the match. _Yami _was the one who stepped away with a snarling noise in the back of his throat. Yugi blinked stupidly at the sound, staring. He straightened more fully because he could suddenly feel him again. Whereas they had formerly seemed disconnected, their emotional bond severed, now he could feel him tenfold.

And the wave of emotions that were slamming into him threatened to send him toppling…

"Yami?"

The surprised tone made him shake his head violently. He snarled louder, the noise akin a roar. And then stepped back once more. Yugi opened his mouth again. _Yami _turned and made a run for it.

He stepped forward to stop him, reaching a hand out and going to say his name again. But the shadows seemed to have eaten him up and the strides he was taking were too large for him to catch up to. He was gone a moment later and Yugi found himself straining his ears for any clue as to where he had gone.

They could hear him crashing through one of the back alleys. They heard a chain link fence rattle. All of them caught it when he snarled again and a dumpster creaked. A metal trashcan screeched as it was kicked and crinkled inwards. The fence rattled again. A low grinding noise like the dumpster being moved made them all freeze.

In the forefront of his mind Yugi could see it perfectly. Yami had accidentally landed on the dumpster and slipped off the side. He'd gotten blindsided by the trashcan that had toppled over. He'd kicked it off of him when he had gotten up. The dumpster was being pushed onto its side so that its contents were littered across the strip of pavement. He was trying to make sure that Yugi wouldn't find him if he came looking for him. Or he was attempting to make a barrier and at the same time litter the road so that if Yugi tried to follow, he would make enough noise so that he could flee again if he needed to.

Yugi turned away, blinking and looking around stupidly. What had he just done exactly? He shook his head and then crouched down next to Joey. He ignored the way that Tristan and Tea swapped looks and then stared at him. He reached over to tip Joey's head to the side, looking over the cuts he had gotten from the boy's nails. He looked okay for the most part, however. They were nothing more than scratches, far from deep or too terrible. He thought they might ache for a while, more so if he moved a certain way, but beyond that he was pretty sure he'd be fine.

He ignored the way that his shoulders felt stiff with uncertainty as he continued looking at his friend. Joey was still gurgling softly, and a little snot bubble painted bright red was coming from his right nostril. Yugi breathed out in relief, overjoyed to find that Yami had not somehow managed to break his ribs or crush his lungs.

Yugi blinked and then settled back on the asphalt, unsure of what more to do. Joey would be fine, just banged up for a little while. He'd probably complain more about not being able to do more damage and hoping that he ran into him again so that he could pop him across the face a few times. He would want more than anything to even the score rather than anyone to worry about him.

He would brag about how he was going to colorfully beat the snot out of him the next time they crossed paths. He would make it seem as if he were both the martyr and the hero of the story even if it contradicted Tristan's. He would probably use it to woo Mai into going on a date—pity or otherwise—so that he could recount the story more vividly. He would have everyone's full attention with the bruises that he would sport.

Yugi swallowed thickly and looked towards where Yami had run off to. Would the other boy have bruises or cuts? Would he have small scrapes from when they collided and he landed on his back? Would the small teen share his aches the next day? Would Yami be okay overnight on his own like this?

He had looked so scared and horrified. He had seemed so…vulnerable when he had pulled away again. He had not responded to him and he had not hurled an insult or a threat. He had not even gone after Joey again. He had not even looked at the others. Something was incredibly wrong with him—and no doubt Yugi had caused it like he seemed to have caused everything else—and he felt sick to his stomach.

What if he was not okay? What if something happened in the absence that he knew Yami would put them through? What if he got hurt and couldn't do anything to help himself? What if he got killed somehow and Yugi had no way of knowing? Was that possible? He wasn't sure but he was relatively certain that he was slipping into a momentary panic. His thoughts didn't seem to make sense or the scenarios in his head possible at this point.

The fact was that Yami had nearly killed Joey. Yugi had called him Yami. And Yami had run off when he kissed him to keep him from killing Joey.

It was like an immense circle of chaos that refused to slow in his mind's eye. There were so many things that seemed so impossible—and always had—that suddenly seemed to have turned on themselves and become reality.

He swallowed again, forcing himself to look down at his friend again. The blond had protected him even when he was going to be killed. He was confronted by Yugi's own personal death and he had protected him from it. Yet, maybe if he hadn't, he would have been able to reach out to Yami as well.

Or perhaps the pain would when he hurt Yugi and was forced to experience the same. Maybe it would have been enough to make him stop short and listen to him. Maybe he…

No, Yami would not have stopped. Even if he had beaten Yugi to a bloody pulp and suffered through those same inflictions. Even if Tristan and Joey had managed to get him off Yugi. Someone would have died if he had not intervened somehow. Kissing him had been the only logical thing he could have done.

It was the only thing that would have made him hesitate. It was the only reason that he _had _hesitated. When he had grabbed him, Yami had tried to snarl at him, but when he had kissed him, he had folded. He had been in shock and the window of opportunity had been short. He had barely managed to stop him when it came down to it. Even by horrifying him—however he had managed that—he had not made him stop for long. Physical contact and the link between them suddenly flaring up as it had had scared him off. That was the only thing that had saved any of them.

Silence seemed to creep through his mind and the air was blissfully cold as it touched his pounding head. He squeezed his eyes shut, breathing deeply, and focused on the numbness that his empty mind offered. He didn't want to think anymore. He didn't want to have to worry so much. It was a blessing how much quiet seemed to crowd in his head now.

When he opened his eyes again, Tristan and Tea were still standing there, frozen, and he almost imagined that he could _hear _the millions of questions being bred in their skulls. He ignored the fact that he distinctly heard Tristan whispering about his sexuality. He ignored it when Tea asked how long that had been going on. He ignored the soft-spoken statement that Tristan made about how Yugi seemed to have known him pretty well. He ignored it when Tea all but _begged _him to take that comment back.

He didn't know what hurt worse. The idea that they were talking behind his back like this or the fact that he was letting them.


	12. Chapter XII

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Warning: Cursing should be relatively mild but sometimes grows a little more at times, Season 0 Yami...and he's a little more unhinged than usual, so keep that in mind**.

**Note: There are mentions of blood, some graphic images of death, sensual moments and feelings, touches of violence/abuse**

**Update Schedule: I was going for bi-weekly updates, but it's definitely not looking that way now :P**

**Writing Note: I'm trying a new, more descriptive style for a story I plan to write later so tell me how I did with it?**

**Anyways, the story is a way to help get rid of some writer's block I'm dealing with so it's serving as a style-trial and a way to get back into writing. **

**I had hoped I would have something else to update with this but it's definitely not looking that way. Anyways, my internet is still down and editing is a lot harder with my phone. I have to use three different apps to get them set up correctly and it's a pain but whatever. Also, I had planned to write out the conversation between Yugi and the others where Yami was concerned in this chapter BUT I decided I would save it and use it for a different part in the mini-series.**

* * *

Chapter XII

Yami had not shown himself again for around two months now. Yugi officially marked this as the longest amount of time he had ever felt so completely alone. He was somewhat severed from the outside world with the way his emotions fell flat and he remained contained in his little bubble of reality where the noise was dulled and the world was only steps away from perfection. It was a disgusting delusional little trick of his mind that left him broken and wondering. He could not really remember the last time he had slept through the night, when food had tasted good enough to actually be swallowed, when a laugh that left his mouth had not been completely empty. He felt like he was constantly stumbling around now. It was almost as if he could not keep his balance or find his footing and his feet refused to actually move when he commanded they do so.

The last time he had bothered to peer at his reflection in the mirror, he had ended up flipping the lights off immediately afterwards. His skin was too tight where it rested over his bones, taking on a paler and disgusting hue that made him look half dead, face sallow and all but completely stretched out.

He shivered as he crawled into bed, glancing at the Puzzle on the nightstand and then pulling the cord on the lamp, snuggling into his pillow and pulling the blankets over himself tightly. He blinked tiredly, feeling as if the shadows on his walls and across the floor were stretching and morphing in his tired mind. He thought maybe his heart was too slow or possibly a little too fast, but it was still a soothing noise to listen to in the dark before falling asleep.

It took the extra weight on his bed to drag him out of the half dream he had fallen into, somewhere between memory and conscious thought and actual sleep. His mind struggled to recall, giving him drifting thoughts to accompany his grogginess. He had been somewhere within the memory of making up the story about how he had met Yami. What was it that he had told them? For a moment his thoughts struggled, crashing into each other, and then seemed to crash upon the answer like two cars colliding violently in the street. He had said that he had met Yami at a party in the states when he had gone with his grandpa for vacation over the summer, and he had been feeling a little down when he had run into the other boy. The two of them had wound up in bed together somehow—he claimed he was drunk and didn't completely remember it—and when he had woken up Yami had given him the cold shoulder. He had not known beforehand but Yami was extremely antisocial and hardly wanted to date, with the typical all American boy kind of response that he didn't want to be tied down. Yugi found out he was antisocial when someone laughed about how he had finally gotten laid and it was a miracle. He found that Yami didn't enjoy the attention whatsoever and so he had ditched him before he could even speak to him again.

Yugi found out that he was not the nicest when he had run into him again later and someone flirted with him and Yami snarled at them angrily. He found that he had a mean streak the size of the states and Australia piled together, and his temper was extreme when it was provoked. He also found out, weeks later, that Yami lived in Domino as well and even went to their school though they had never crossed paths before.

And he lied like a professional when he said that he did not think that Yami would have actually hurt Joey as he had claimed he would. He falsely defended him with everything inside of him that if Joey had not rushed him Yami would never have even turned his attention on him. He said that when they had run across each other earlier in the week they had made plans to talk about a relationship—Yami clearly didn't want one but Yugi wasn't going to sleep with him again like that. They were trying to find a compromise. Yami was reluctant but he was willing to at least listen to him when he spoke. They were going to meet up later and talk again, because Yugi had to run and Yami wasn't in the mood to hold up his end of the conversation anymore.

Yami found him at the arcade. He was only so upset when he walked inside because of that girl flirting with him. He hated it when people flirted with him because of how antisocial he was—he always put emphasis on how extremely antisocial Yami was, in order to push home the point. He was not physically abusive, as they might have thought when they ran outside to check on him.

They had been arguing violently and when Yugi lost his temper and tried to leave, Yami had grabbed him and pinned him there. He wasn't trying to hurt him, he was just keeping him there to continue the conversation. He was trying to figure out if he was lying by using his pulse as an indicator.

He would not have attacked Joey if he had not rushed him. He said that Joey provoked him when he came for him like that, especially because Yami was extremely volatile and defensive at the moment. He said he was extremely vicious when he was threatened and that had been put into defending himself when Joey tried to get him away from Yugi.

And Yugi realized, halfway through the statement, that a part of that was not exactly a lie. Yami may have been furious but if Joey had not gone after him first, he thought maybe the other teen would have stayed entirely focused on him as he had originally planned. He would not have cared if someone had walked by them and tried to separate them until the moment they either put their hands on him or they threatened him. And then Yami would have given them his attention. He might have sneered and baited Joey into an attack if he hadn't simply rushed out at him, but he did not think the red eyed teen would have actually hurt him first.

Even in the groggy state of his mind as he recalled the conversation clearly despite the dimming dreamscape, he thought again that maybe it was just that Joey had posed a very real threat to him in that moment. It was, if Yugi was right, the only reason he had gone so far as to threaten to sever his head. Ushio had proved himself a threat before and had "stepped into Yami's domain". And that, in some twisted way that made even more sense to him in the darkness at that moment than it did in the daylight, meant that Yugi was Yami's domain. Joey had already harmed him once before he had even stepped foot in Yugi's life and that meant that he was easy pickings as well as the rest of them if they so much as stepped too close to him.

Still partially able to slip under the lull of sleep, Yugi startled to snuggle into his pillow once more. A shift of the comforter over his skin made him stop short and a light but steady weight added to the mattress made him roll onto his back. The covers pulled tight when he started to bring his right leg up into a bend. He was still half expecting it to be his imagination and that the blanket had just gotten caught somewhere beneath his hip and flank. He yawned softly, a coo of a noise, and it died almost immediately again as he blinked his eyes open into miniscule slits. He expected to find nothing there but the darkness of his room, the gentle and sparing touch of moonlight through the window.

Instead, he found the other boy in front of him. He was stretched out over his hips, arms straddling them, his spine fully extended from where his legs were bunched beneath him. His knees were bent, his left pressed firmly into the mattress, holding some of his weight, and the heel of his foot was digging into his ass cheeks. The other leg dangled off the side of the bed, and Yugi could see the toes of his sneakers pressed against the floor when he finally dragged his eyes towards them.

His face was really the most visible thing in the room, his eyes glowing like a jungle cat's, red irises glittering almost like Christmas lights. His cheekbones looked harsher in the moonlight, jagged like knife blades. The shadows his bangs cast when he tipped his head slightly made it look as if his skin were terribly scarred or burned and charred. His clothing looked almost completely black aside from the right side of his body where the moonlight just barely seemed to hesitantly touch the fabric. He looked like one mass of darkness safe for the gentle folds of his clothes where they looked pale and washed out, almost as drastically as his skin.

"Yami..."

It came out in a whispered exhale, but the other still heard him clearly.

His eyes sharpened and his mouth drew into a hard line, jaw clenching as he stared at him in disgust. "Why do you call me that?" he hissed after a long moment of silence passed between them. Yugi felt as if the air had suddenly dropped in temperature once more and a heaviness was pressing into the room, pinning him against the bed and preventing him from even raising his head from the pillow. The other boy shook his head, glowering even as his expression morphed into something slightly more thoughtful. "Why did you bother with it? Tell me, Yugi, do you think a name gives you the right to claim ownership over me? Do you think that if you give me a name, you can control me? That I won't destroy your little friends and family?"

He barked the last question but Yugi didn't flinch, instead struggling with laughter as he looked at him. "No," he snorted, clearing his throat immediately after. There was no actual chance he would ever be able to do something of that magnitude. There was no way in any world or with any magic of any kind that the red eyed boy would ever allow it to happen. Even if he could somehow find a way to make him bend, he knew that he would be broken tenfold in return. It was not something that Yugi wanted to play with, let alone consider, for multiple reasons beyond the idea of him lashing out so violently in response. "I don't want control over you."

"Then why?" he spat scornfully. "What is the point, Yugi?"

"Because that's what you are, isn't it? Some sort of darkness? Completely personified?"

His lips curled back in fury. His eyes flashed like gems and fresh blood. When he leaned forward, his teeth were glittering and painted such a brilliant white that Yugi nearly cringed back. He could see the harsh line of his gums where the moonlight touched them, painting them black, and his head swam momentarily. "I am a god," he snarled softly, abruptly pulling away and settling further on his haunches, though he kept him pinned with his hands against the mattress on either side of him. "And you have no idea what the fuck you have done, do you?"

"I barely know what I do in school anymore," Yugi commented with a small smile, eyes kind even in the darkness. The other boy leaned forward to assert a small bit more of his weight when he tried to sit up slightly, and he froze at the clear threat in that simple movement. He didn't want him closer. He would rather snap his neck than have him within the same breathing space as him. "I certainly don't know what I do with or to you when I don't mean to."

"Don't mean..." He stayed silent for a moment and the smaller boy moved only when the air seemed lighter and the pull on his comforter lessened. He reached up to run his fingers along the other's jaw, surprised when he was not met with resistance. But those red eyes were glazed, staring off into something that Yugi couldn't fathom, as if he were seeing things that couldn't exist for the smaller boy. He was focused on him, Yugi knew, because he was not one to disregard a threat, especially one so close to him, but he didn't pull back.

His skin was soft and cool, like the air around them, but there was a steady warmth beneath it as well, something that couldn't quite be put into words but could never be imagined either. His most beautiful dreams and nightmares and wildest fantasies and ideas could never come up with such a strange but condescending perfection. No, Yami was actually right there, on the bed, leaning over just enough to straddle his hips with his arms, watching him now with those same dark eyes that revealed just how furious and unhappy and confused and dangerous he always was.

"I never meant to do anything to you in the first place."

"Then why am I here?"

"I...I don't know. I honestly don't. I don't know where you came from but I...I might have a small idea about that."

He was whispering the words, almost so softly that he couldn't hear himself, and his voice sounded dead in the still air, but somehow alive and pulsing all the same. When he looked at him, those red eyes were cruelly amused, full of resentment and curiosity and something like a keen intelligence that made his spine tingle.

"Do tell," the other coaxed, purring the words with such a condescending edge that Yugi almost flinched.

"The Puzzle. You came from the Puzzle," he stated, nodding once slowly and smiling slightly at the taller teen. The red eyes narrowed into slits, irises cut drastically by the dark shadows his lashes cast, and his expression turned into one of pure petulance that was definitely growing on Yugi. "You came from there but I don't know why or how. Just that you kept saying I brought you here days before we actually met. And I finished the Puzzle a little while before the incident at the arcade."

For a moment the other boy merely stared and then he leaned his chin slightly against his fingers. His expression was somewhat questioning and dubious for a long moment, aimed at the way Yugi himself smiled and closed his eyes in response to the action rather than his words. That soft chill of the other boy's skin against his fingers was almost enough to make him shiver and the sensation sent small tingles through his bones. Yami moved a little closer, shifting his face so that the smaller boy's fingers caught and cupped more of his cheek than they would have otherwise.

His bottom lashes tickled his ring finger and Yugi opened his eyes again, blinking in surprise. For a moment his mind raced, wondering at the scenario before him, struggling to catch on to what was happening, falsely hissing at him that maybe he was imagining it. But the other was staring at him, eyes sharp and narrow, and he realized after a moment why he had moved to let him do this.

He was rewarding him. For figuring out something that he would never have told him otherwise. He was giving him a small taste of accomplishment because he had not asked him for the answers and had found them instead. But Yugi also realized with a twisting stomach that Yami was waiting for something more.

"It's the only thing that makes sense to me. My grandpa always said that the Puzzle was involved in the deepest of magics, some of which are older and more powerful than life and death," he commented, watching him closely. The red eyes drifted towards the window, opening a little wider, just enough that he could see the way the light seemed to be drawn in through his pupils and pushed outwards like blood. His irises appeared almost to pulse with color, spreading outwards in small waves of bright red, but then became uniform quickly once more. "Shadow Magic and Shadow Games...I don't really know much about them or anything aside from the stories he's told me. They aren't recorded in history anywhere because humans don't really care about magic, so it's...I don't know."

Yami nodded slightly, the movement nearly forcing a purr out of his throat. The sensation of his skin gliding against his, smooth and unblemished and so completely soft was perfect safe for the absence of the body heat that Yugi wished he possessed. "And you are not afraid of that?" he asked slowly, voice low and drifting like a stray breeze.

"No, why should I be?"

Slowly those red eyes fell on him again, focused and glowing, the pupils nonexistent now. He could not even see the whites of his eyes any longer, Yugi realized with a start, his own gaze growing wide in shock.

"You make me question your intelligence when you ask stupid questions like that."

"I have a god straddling me on my bed," Yugi snorted, smiling a little when the other seemed to lean a little closer and more fully into his hand at the proper title. "I think if there is anything in the world to be scared of it's that fact."

"Which odds make it scary?"

He shifted his fingers, fanning them out a little more, and Yami's jaw jumped beneath his skin, the bones moving so fluidly it felt like water rippling under his touch. He nearly shivered at the sensation but instead licked his lips.

"The circumstances. I mean...I brought you here. Without even meaning to. And you're dangerous and feral and it's impossible to even know how you will react to things..." He laughed quietly and shook his head slowly, smiling at him gently. This conversation seemed so strange and out of place, as if it belonged in a movie or possibly a beautiful dream. "I can't control you. I have no power over you. But you can't kill me even though you want to. I think I'm more scared of the fact that I want you around me constantly than I do about how much you hate me."

He narrowed his eyes into slits once more, glaring at him in the darkness. "What a cute, pathetic little statement."

"Yeah, maybe, but I'm your only threat and yet you're right here."

"I wish I could kill you."

Yugi couldn't resist the small grin that came over his face. It was scary and demented and everything wrong. It made him question who he was or if he was losing more of himself than he had originally thought. But he still couldn't resist the impulse to laugh. Yami hated him, wished him dead, but he refused to say "I wish you would die" or "I wish you dead" simply because he wanted to be the one to do it. He wanted so much to be the one with the ability to end his life. And he couldn't, and that drove him crazy, but it helped to make it somewhat easier to understand him as well. He hated Yugi but he loathed himself for his inability to find a solution to their situation, and he was growing infuriated with being unable to escape from the prison of flesh he was bound inside.

"You are becoming too smart for your own good," he snarled softly, voice dripping with hatred and unfiltered disgust, rage seeping into the undertone. His eyes narrowed and glittered and he blinked slowly as Yugi watched him closely and nearly shivered with delight at the stare he was given. It was strange to think he would be overjoyed with anything the other male decided to grace him with—his presence, his emotions, his eyes scraping over his skin—but it was there. His insides seemed almost to burst with it for a split second. "If anyone should be given the right to kill you, it should be me."

"For something I didn't mean to do?"

His lack of petulance was the only thing that kept the other from snarling and instead Yami merely scowled at him, hissing, "I do not care if you meant to drag me into this pathetic realm or not. I merely wish to kill you. Is that too much to ask? You yourself thought that if push came to shove, you would rather I choose myself over you. Has that changed?"

"No."

"So if it meant that you must die?"

"So what, Yami? I don't fear death. I don't fear you."

"Then what do you fear, little one? Do tell me. I'm quite curious to hear the answer."

Yugi stayed silent for a moment. "I'll tell you some other time," he promised quietly, watching him as he peered at him silently and then tilted his head slightly to the side. "When I don't think I might be hallucinating."

"Hallucinating?" He said it in a way that almost sounded as if he might be savoring it, tasting it like wine and enjoying the roll of it along his tongue. "Do I often come to you in hallucinations?"

"I don't know yet," he laughed, shrugging. "I've never actually had one before."

"The irony of that statement," the other drawled, curling his lip back and looking briefly towards the skylight.

"Have you ever had one, Yami?"

For a split second he looked ready to snap at him that that name was not his but fell silent, his features becoming distant as they rearranged themselves into a blankness that made Yugi stiffen. He was silent for a long minute and Yugi was about to say that he did not have to tell him—he wanted so badly to just tell him that he didn't want to know—when finally he spoke in a low, soft snarl. "When I was first brought here. I thought I was dying. Maybe that immortality had been a mere lie and I was being cut to size. By who, I wasn't sure. And then I found out about you."

"I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry that it happened like that."

"Oh yes, because you sound so apologetic," the other boy sneered, baring his teeth for a moment before turning his head towards the clock, taking in the time and narrowing his eyes into slits.

"You pathetic little imbecile."

Yugi smiled a little and shook his head. "I am sorry that it happened like that. I didn't apologize that you're here," he admitted.

"Oh, and why is that?" he snarled. "Because you think you have ownership over me?"

"No. I don't want ownership over you. That would be like trying to tame a wolf. It doesn't happen," Yugi laughed softly, shaking his head again and searching his irritated expression for a moment. His eyes were growing feverish in the way they glowed, as if he wanted to lunge forward the more he spoke. He thought maybe he would have torn his throat out in an instant had he had the chance. "I like having you around, though. It's...like having someone there where there wasn't anyone before. I don't feel so alone most of the time."

"Touching," Yami sneered, rolling his eyes and moving to arch his back in a restrained stretch. He did not attempt lifting his hands from where they rested on either side of the smaller boy, however. The idea occurred to Yugi after a moment that perhaps Yami had chosen that position so that he could easily pin him if he made any sudden movements. All he would have to do was lean a little further and move his legs and he would be able to pin his thighs with his knees if he wanted. He would not even have to do more than shift his balance and grab his arms to keep him hard against the mattress if he tried to touch him any more. "But that does not mean shit to me. I am not here for you. I am not your friend. In fact, I am your biggest threat. And if push ever comes to shove, if I truly need to, I will slit your throat without a second thought."

"And kill yourself with me?"

"If it would mean getting out of this prison of flesh and bone I have been bound within, yes. I have no fear of death."

"And yet, you fear me. Possibly the weakest person in the world and you fear me."

The other teen stared at him as if he were searching for words to say in response. He seemed to have several retorts on his tongue, resting there and growing larger, but he abruptly turned away with a shake of his head. Yugi watched him curiously, having expected something—anything really—and found himself disappointed that he was not arguing or baring his teeth. He was not even trying to defend himself and it made his stomach twist uncomfortably. Maybe he didn't think it was worth it, but his own ignorance of the topic suddenly left him cold and empty.

What had Yugi put him through exactly? What had he done when he had brought him here? Was Yami even all right? Sure, he seemed powerful enough, but there was something weak in him too. Yugi sensed it, and he knew Yami was acutely aware of it. He wished he knew what it was, though. He wished he had some kind of answer for it.

Yami tilted his head towards him and stared for a moment. He had adapted quickly and efficiently to the name that now bound him to the boy beneath him. But it did nothing to quell his rage, leaving him hungry to spill blood and furious enough that he wanted to sink his teeth into his throat. There was a constant, agonizing burn beneath his skin each time the name was mentioned, as if he were being lit on fire from the inside. He wanted nothing more than to snarl and bare his teeth, to rip Yugi's throat out and bathe in his blood. The very idea of a name being placed on him disgusted him more than if the boy had been but a mere baby that had summoned him to this world. It did not help, either, that he had been eight when he had first started the Puzzle...

Nor did the fact that he looked so small and pitifully tiny and absolutely pathetic beneath him now. He always looked like that as well, and he allowed the world to happen around him without consideration. He was more invested in things that did not matter nearly as much to others. He had shut himself out without truly realizing, and he wondered if his small circle of friends knew it as he did. He himself was not inclined towards this world by any means, but it should have been something that the boy was, right? He had been born on its plane, he had experienced his entire life there. How could he not be more inclined towards it? Towards trying to protect it?

Especially from him.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" he finally spat furiously, bristling uncomfortably as his skin began to crawl over his muscles. He glowered at the other boy, baring his teeth, and hissed quietly as Yugi smiled softly in amusement, as if his anger were nothing but a joke.

"Because you're here and I don't have to worry about if you're dead somewhere or something."

Yami stayed silent for a long moment, eyes narrowing. He leaned forward slightly, pressing his fingers into Yugi's sides and clawing at his skin through his shirt. The smaller boy wriggled, wincing, and gave him a startled look. "The only one who can kill me is you. Just as it is I who will end your life when I get the chance, little Yugi," he growled softly, turning away once more and glancing out the window.

"Yeah, well, until you figure out how to do that without destroying yourself in the process, I think I might be pretty safe," he commented casually, dismissing it when the other began to snarl low in his throat. The red eyes flashed and glowed vibrantly, reminding him once more of hellfire and Christmas lights, a wide contradiction but somehow extremely fitting. "You will protect me if only for your own benefit, right?"

"Is there ever any other reason to do so?"

"No."

"As long as you have not become deluded into thinking that I give a shit about you, I think we are at least fine as far as that goes." He paused, snarling wryly, and turned his head to glance at the Puzzle for a moment where it rested on the nightstand.

"Where did the Puzzle bring you from?"

The question made the other teen stiffen for a moment. His eyes flickered and danced and his pupils became enlarged, darkening as if they might swallow the whole room. For a moment he merely stared at the nightstand, and then his gaze abruptly shot to Yugi once more. He was watching it from the corner of his eye, the smaller teen noted, however, and his stomach twisted.

The simple artifact was a deep golden metal, with magic that could split this world and the next in half and destroy them from the inside out. It glinted, sharp lines against fragmented pale moonlight where there was none to touch its surface, absorbing it like the night swallowed the day. The eye in the center seemed to glare at him plainly as if in warning, and when he looked more fully at it, it glinted as if the moonlight had passed over it, the gleam hitting his own. He bared his teeth at it, snarling softly in sound defiance, and then snapped his attention away with a shiver that raced down his back.

"I don't know," he spat quietly, finally. "The darkness, I suppose."

Yugi blinked and frowned in confusion before glancing at the Puzzle as well. His hand moved down to cup the other's jugular and he could feel his pulse in slow, steady beats that made him feel sick to his stomach. They were far too slow, but so steady that it was no question of whether his heart was working all right. It did not fumble, did not strain, did not dance or skip. It merely moved in a beat that was far below the normal rate of a human, utterly perfect in its own terribly way.

He blinked after a moment, staring at the Puzzle. He supposed it made sense. After all, in the mirror, his entire body had appeared to be made of shadows, as if he were but a mass of twisting, screaming darkness.

And, if he was pulled from the darkness by the Puzzle, then it would make sense that he would look like that in the mirror, right? But then...how was a god pulled unwilling from another world?

How were they bound to anything by magic that would have been inferior to their own? He didn't understand how it was possible. And what kind of darkness possessed such power as to do it? And when Yami said he was brought from the darkness, did he mean the Shadow Realm that his grandpa sometimes spoke of or was it something else entirely?

"Here...stay with me the night."

"What?"

Yugi turned back and nodded with a small smile. He gestured innocently towards the spot beside him and searched the other's eyes. He wanted to make himself appear as friendly as possible but it was hard to grasp at the concept with the way Yami stared at him. He looked as if he could not understand the words coming out of his mouth or the slightest concept of what he might mean. Or perhaps he understood fully but thought that he was far too stupid to take such an invitation seriously by any means. "Stay here tonight."

The red eyed boy scoffed softly but looked at the pillow for a moment as if he were imagining it, soft and warm, lying beneath his head as it had before. Yugi blinked, stomach twisting. Had Yami ever experienced one before the moment he had convinced him to spend the night before? Or had it been a new experience because his own world—or the darkness, if that was really where he came from—did not have such luxuries?

"You can leave again in the morning if you want. I just...I haven't slept in a while and I don't think you have either, considering the fact that we seem to be tied like this. If I'm not sleeping well, then I don't suppose you are either."

He opened his mouth, a swift and furious rebuttal springing on his tongue. But he blinked, conceding easily, when Yugi reached up to push him onto his side with his free hand. The surprise that sparked through the two of them was enough to make him want to snicker but he fell silent. He was not truly inclined to fight with him, let alone argue, as a new wave of exhaustion brushed against his insides. His eyelids felt heavy and his eyes watery from his forgetfulness to blink. The smaller teen smiled in soft amusement and ignored some of the exhaustion that seemed to hit him more violently now due to Yami's presence beside him. He went about taking his shoes off and tossing them onto the ground as Yugi pulled on the very edge of the blanket in invitation. The red-eyed boy shot him a furious look, appearing as if he might want to castrate him if he did not stop.

But he finally moved a moment later, dragging himself up on his hands and knees to let Yugi pull the blanket back completely. Yami blinked tiredly, leaning forward, and braced himself as he plopped down against the mattress firmly. He was asleep when his head hit the pillow and the smaller boy snorted a laugh as he covered them both and snuggled into the fluffy cotton.

He woke up hours later to the sound of a soft, slow heartbeat and such quiet breathing that he had to strain his ears to catch it. The sunlight coming through the window was too strong but it held a quality to it that made it just weak enough to be manageable against the floor. He thanked the gods it was winter rather than summer, as it would have been extremely and violently bright. He squinted and peered through his lashes, allowing his eyes to adjust even as his mind remained firmly drowned within his former sleep. The dreams lingered crisply in his mind for a few moments before becoming disoriented and fragmented, but held him in a blissful grasp that made him fight off a smile. His cheek was warm and comfortable as it rested against the other's chest.

The heartbeat there was strong in his ear beneath the fog of grogginess that came with it. Yugi smiled a little and lifted his head just enough to take in the other boy's face. His more mature features were bathed in a golden bronze tone and gave him a dangerous appeal even with his body relaxed completely in sleep. He looked like a cross between an innocent boy—only his eyes closed could ever give him such a soft appearance—and a dangerous animal. His body was still completely relaxed, almost entirely still safe for his soft breathing. There was strength still rolling off him and it gave him a dark appeal that made him far more alarming than any natural predator.

His face was mashed unattractively against the pillow, almost as if he had somehow managed to press himself further into the soft material. Yugi blinked and then looked them both over slowly, realizing that they must have gotten themselves tangled together sometime in the middle of the night. As his eyes flickered back towards his face, he swore he saw Yami's lip twitch with the threat to curl upwards into a snarl, but it was obvious he was still resting. He was sure otherwise the other boy would have snarled at him to get off by now.

He moved to untangle where his arm was trapped under the other's half turned body. He didn't want to wake him as he attempted to weasel his hand out from beneath his back. His bones, he realized after a moment, were far too pronounced beneath his skin. The knobs of his spine seemed to dig into his fingers when he tried to move away slowly to keep him from waking. He moved his free hand to brace against the headboard, once again surprised by the way the other teen seemed to inexplicably weigh so much. He pressed his palm into the wood firmly and bit his tongue until he felt it might split in half in his mouth. He pulled harshly and his hand finally slipped free of his darker counterpart's weight.

Yami didn't stir and Yugi wondered if maybe this idea he had gotten to make him stay through the night was far more important for both of them than he had truly considered. It was becoming rather obvious that he needed the other teen around him to feel okay. He was still fearful of the spikes of his emotions and the way that they seemed to drag him down with the threat of drowning him. It was also very clear that Yami would fight him tooth and nail, but he knew the limitations of being apart and how rejuvenated they became when they were together as well. It was not a guess on his behalf to know that the other male perhaps knew them better than himself, despite how he wished to avoid it all. It seemed that sleeping together in the same space, sharing the same air and pillow, the same bed, seemed to make this an especially strong truth to be considered.

He pulled back just enough to take in the way that their legs were tied together, smiling lopsidedly at the sight before trying to pull his left away from where it was trapped beneath Yami's slender hip. The bone was sharper than he had expected, far closer to the skin and somehow jagged where it should have been smooth. Yugi stopped short at the realization, feeling the bone dig gently into his knee where he tried to pull his leg away. Maybe if he could convince the other boy to stick around more often, then they could influence each other enough to take some of the physical and psychological strain that seemed to come with the situation.

Maybe then Yami would not be so thin. Then Yugi might not constantly feel as if he were the loneliest person in the world. Maybe he could even get used to the spikes of emotion he always suffered through. Or perhaps Yami would gain body heat and no longer feel so terribly cold.

Yugi braced his hands against the headboard to keep himself balanced and slowly dragged his leg out. Pain shot through the limb but he ignored it enough to keep going, shaking his head slightly as he smiled slightly. Still he found his last thought more amazing than just mere amusement. His knee ached with stiffness as he pulled it fully from beneath him. He glanced at Yami once more and grinned widely when he found that he was still passed out. His other leg was manageable without much time or effort or even real thought. He slipped it out from where it had been twisted around the other boy's left and balanced himself back on his knees with a glance at the clock.

It was halfway through two in the afternoon.

His eyebrows shot up and a small frown marred his lips before glancing at Yami sideways. He did not want to wake him, but it was obvious that he needed to get his day started. But, would Yami think he was abandoning him if he simply woke without him there? He knew that in his place he would definitely feel that way upon waking and finding the person he had been intertwined with all night was missing.

"Yami, hey, wake up," he muttered, reaching out and trying to shake his shoulder lightly. He waited a moment and then sighed when the other teen remained fast asleep. Yugi shook his shoulder a little harder, frowning in puzzlement and momentary fear when he did not respond once more. He would have thought he was dead if it were not for the steady rise and fall of his chest and the fact that his own health seemed to affect Yami's so fully.

He rolled his eyes and reached to turn his face towards him, realizing only belatedly the massive mistake that he had just made. Yami's hand was half buried beneath the pillow and only the bottom of his palm was visible there. His fingers had just barely brushed the taller boy's wrist. The realization had just registered in his head. Electricity shot through his entire nervous system, flaring harshly beneath his skin and burning his veins. The alarms came too late, however.

Yugi yelped as the fist hit his jaw. He was sent tumbling over the side of the bed. He landed in a heap on the floor. He hissed and groaned. His stomach flipped and ached for a split second. He rubbed his cheek and jaw. He flexed it, glancing up, and froze in place. Yami was staring at him groggily, his expression vicious.

"What the fuck do you think you were just doing?" he spat coldly, narrowing his eyes into slits and blinking once. His state of awareness had come abruptly, sufficiently, and Yugi realized he was completely alert and frustrated with it. His jaw set itself, his lips pulling back to show off his right canine in a snarl, and any sleep had left him as he looked down at him furiously.

"I was just trying to wake you," Yugi replied simply. When the other merely scowled at him, he shook his head and rubbed his jaw. Maybe Yami wouldn't listen, but it was all he had meant to do and he wasn't about to feel bad for it. The red eyed boy snorted loudly, startling him, and then glowered more fully. "Seriously, Yami, what the hell is with you and your wrists?"

The other boy's eyes drifted towards his wrists slowly for a moment. His gaze was almost forlorn and lost, staring at the smooth skin and the forked lines of blue and purple that lingered there. He was frozen for what felt like an eternity before his eyes narrowed, he snarled angrily, and his attention snapped back to him. "That is truly none of your fucking business, now is it?" he ground out between his teeth.

Yugi blinked, eyes becoming impossibly wide, and then sighed. "Okay, okay, keep that one to yourself," he snorted, rolling his eyes and climbing to his feet after a moment. He failed to consider just how many things Yami would keep to himself without his permission but he thought it would be a vast amount. "Nice right hook by the way. I thought maybe you had broken my jaw for a second there."

He turned to Yami with a wide grin that was playful and warm but nearly felt any emotion drain from him immediately. The other stared at him with a blank and calculated expression, watching as if he might lunge forward or something of that nature. His mouth fell into a troubled line, confused by the look he was being given, and his cheeks burned vibrantly as the other spoke again.

"I normally kill for less than that," he murmured easily, sitting up fully and leaning forward in a feline like stretch of his spine, head turned as he studied him with cool curiosity. "Let us say they do what you just did. I would punch them and then while they are still dazed, I could easily—"

"No, no, no. Stop that! It's way too early to hear grotesque stories about killing someone," he protested instantly, holding his hands up and shaking his head.

"Well...aren't you just a boring little shit."

He couldn't help but grin at the statement and the petulance with which it was laced. He stretched himself out and listened as his backbone popped loudly. The noise made Yami's head tilt to the side in innocent surprise, wide red eyes blinking at him in question. "Here, come on, let's go get some food," he offered, a burst of elation surging through him as his stomach growled. "I can make pancakes! Yum."

The innocent surprise had grown vacant and his head had righted itself on his neck. He stared at him blankly in response now, and for a moment the small teen was almost offended by his lack of enthusiasm. He was about to snipe at him that he was an absolute idiot to not want his pancakes—he wasn't Joey; he could actually cook—and he refused to share his bed with him ever again if he didn't like the breakfast food. But a cold nip dug its way into his marrow, startling him with a new realization. His offense was swept away immediately and he blinked, almost horrified, as he remembered exactly why it was that he might look at him in such a way.

"They're..." How did one explain the concept of pancakes? And, more importantly, how would he explain to the other's liking? He could not see Yami being simply mollified with the idea of batter and butter and syrup put on a plate. And he couldn't think of much more elegant words to provide the description he wished he could give him. It was too early and he was getting hungrier by the second. "You know what? Never mind. I don't know how to explain them. I'll just make them and then you can have some."

His mouth opened in response and just by the look in his eyes Yugi could see the cynicism that would have made it up. But then the other teen shook his head slowly and looked out the window as if possessed, eyes glinting like ice where the sun touched them. They were turned a strange wine color and his stomach twisted at the surprising unity of the shade where it was normally a million different specks and shades to be discovered. Yugi frowned and looked him over, nibbling his lip unhappily as he recognized something he had overlooked only moments before.

Yami was brutally uncomfortable. The fact that they were both now wide awake made it intensely obvious that he did not want to be there any longer. But the way he sat made him appear almost meek and disturbingly so. He hated it almost as much as when he had threatened to kill without reason. He had never wanted to make him feel smaller than he actually was or so uncomfortable that he was staring out the window almost wistfully. What held him there Yugi was unsure of, but he knew that it was hardly something he wanted if he was so unhappy.

Where was the in between, the middle ground, that small strip of land between them where he could actually reach him without startling him into baring his teeth or lashing out? Did it actually hold a place in existence? Or had he simply dreamed up such a thing in an effort to make himself feel better? If it was an actuality, then how would he find his way there? And how would he lead Yami there?

Because he knew without question that Yami would not find it on his own. He would not search for it. For the moment he, like Yugi, was simply blind and there was no way of approaching it. However, unlike him, he would not make the effort in any way as it was not part of his plans.

"I am not hungry."

"Yes you are. I can feel it even if your stomach isn't growling."

Yami blinked only once and then his head tipped to the side. His eyes flashed and his attention fell upon Yugi again slowly. The smaller teen froze in place, feeling his stomach clench. The look on the other's face could have put the devil to shame, his eyes gleaming and flashing as his lips twisted into a smirk cruel enough to make him flinch. "That is my hunger for you," he hissed in a voice as deep and bottomless as the shadow he had cast months before. "Body, mind and soul. You have no idea what you are even doing here, do you, Yugi?"

He stared at him for a moment and then shrugged lightly, trying his hardest not to give him any more room to see how horribly uncomfortable he was quickly becoming. "You say that but you're looking at me like I'm repulsive."

"You are! You are a slimy little worm that found its way into becoming my core existence," Yami spat, spinning on him with a wild glare that made his eyes more black than red. His mouth curled back and the snarl that left his lungs forced his saliva to foam and bubble in the corners of his lips. "You brought me here, you've bound me to you by name, you stopped me from spilling blood a second time and now you dare to imply that I must survive off of your disgusting food!"

"I know you do because that's what I survive off of and look at what body you happen to be in, Yami. Human. What the hell else would you eat?"

He tilted his head towards him further, peering at him through his long lashes. There was such a cold pity in his eyes that Yugi nearly cringed, thinking himself as one of the stupidest creatures the other must have ever had the pleasure of looking upon. "You. Your energy when it is at its peak. Do you not understand yet?"

Yugi blinked and then froze in place, dazed as the statement seemed to fully settle within his head. "What the hell are you, an incubus?" he breathed, shaking his head in confusion and something of childish wonder and open awe. "You need sexual energy?"

Yami bared his teeth, gnashing them together loudly as he breathed out angrily. "A god. I am a god," he spat furiously, appearing ready to lunge forward and snatch him off his feet before abruptly shaking his head. He settled back somewhat into the mattress, and the way the comforter fell across his hips made him look almost peaceful and human, as if such simplicity could completely scrape his complication away. His eyes were more open than before, but not so much as to be widened, studying him as he took in the small form and his physical presence. His lips twitched faintly, tugging into a mocking smirk. He would probably cherish the way Yugi looked so pathetic in his shock for as long as he was stuck within this pitiful existence.

"No, I am not an incubus. Your little demon lore is nothing to me. I require your energy because this body is still being created. It has yet to truly become solid. If my existence were a fact, my reflection would not be what it is. No, you brought me here, you bound me to you, you gave me form and life and things I have never wanted. Your only true payment to me is the fact that I need your energy when you are euphoric and drowning in emotions, when we bleed into each other and you allow me to take from you. Eventually when this body is solid and no longer suffers the restraints that it does now, maybe then I will be able to kill you without causing harm to myself."

Yugi felt his mouth grow dry as he swallowed hard and allowed the waves of nausea to crash through him for a long moment. His behavior made a lot more sense now that he knew this—it explained why he had been so keen on touching him, why he had kissed him so often. If that was how he got his energy just in order to survive, then it was no wonder he had no respect for boundaries and would fight any he tried to lay down between them. And if he was truly a god, he did not have reason to know them nor care for them. He needed simply to know how it was he would get his power back so that he could leave this world and find his way back to his. By doing so he did not have to worry about anything more than getting his sexual energy, absorbing it—if that was how he did it—and then recovering fully so that he could leave.

He swallowed hard again and then tilted his head to the side as he studied him. The words tossed about in his mind, echoing dangerously, and he shook his head slowly. "That's not true," he finally muttered, blinking as the other's lips quirked into a downward angle, a small half frown.

"And how would you know?"

"I don't. But I'm willing to bet that it isn't true."

"Well, isn't that a nice little gamble?" the other drawled lazily, appearing bored with the conversation now. "Want to take it up with your grandfather, Yugi?"

"What?" Yugi asked in alarm, stiffening in shock at the statement. He had already threatened him once before, claiming he would kill his entire family if he did not tell him what it was that made him sad about his grandfather's illness. He wasn't going to turn back around and attack him now...was he?

"He's home."

The smaller teen opened his mouth and lunged forward. The other laughed loudly, a sharp noise that echoed off the walls. He was gone before he even got a millimeter of movement into the action. He hit the bed, grunting with the force of the impact, and frowned. The lack of body warmth where Yami had just been seated was dangerously alarming, but as he listened, the door separating the house from the game shop opened. His head snapped around and he pulled himself to his feet, eyes wide as he moved to pad out to the doorway and find him standing there.

Yami hadn't lied.


	13. Chapter XIII

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Warning: Cursing should be relatively mild but sometimes grows a little more at times, Season 0 Yami...and he's a little more unhinged than usual, so keep that in mind**.

**Note: There are mentions of blood, some graphic images of death, sensual moments and feelings, touches of violence/abuse**

**Update Schedule: I was going for bi-weekly updates, but it's definitely not looking that way now :P**

**Writing Note: I'm trying a new, more descriptive style for a story I plan to write later so tell me how I did with it?**

**Anyways, the story is a way to help get rid of some writer's block I'm dealing with so it's serving as a style-trial and a way to get back into writing.**

**So soon enough _Behind You_ will actually be over. There are only three more chapters after this one, in which case the sequel will be posted (after my lazy ass decides how and when to write it out). Anyways, here's some more unhinged Yami and sympathetic Yugi. Remember that just because their personalities flip somewhat at times they are NOT really getting along and you'll see that they aren't completely past their differences whatsoever.**

**I'm pretty sure it took me longer to edit this chapter using me phone than it did to actually WRITE it in the first place. I can't even BEGIN to describe how big a pain in the ass this is. But whatever. It's worth it. Anyways there SHOULDN'T be any more but if there are, any extremely misspelled words or awkwardly placed ones are my autocorrect in action. If they're there, you can point them out if you want to but it may be a little while before I can get to them. **

* * *

Chapter XIII

"You know, Yami, shoving your tongue down my throat and jerking me off is _not_ the way to go," Yugi stated calmly as he walked into the room and dropped his backpack, closing the door and flipping the lock just in case. His grandpa would never walk in on him without knocking but his mom seemed to have a habit of it just because she felt that she had to check on him sometimes. He flushed at the thought, rolling his eyes towards the ceiling in humiliation. He had been watching a porn tape a little too loudly one night. She had walked in on it and started screaming while Yugi had hurried to shut it off in a panic. She'd grilled him for three hours straight until he had finally admitted it was Joey lending him the tapes and ever since she had made sure to check on him. Apparently she had not wanted him to watch such disgusting things due to her idea that he should only have sex when he was comfortable enough with another person. She had constantly talked to him about morals and one night stands and things of that nature for a week afterwards. Sometimes she still brought it up.

She did not want him to become one of the "fuck boys" as she called them. She wanted him to respect women and men or any partner that he had. She didn't want him to _ever_ have to regret his first time, whether it was a simple kiss or a touch or the full sexual experience. She did not want him to think that sex—especially the first time—was anything like those videos. She wanted him to take it seriously, which the videos, he agreed, did not by any means. He had told her on multiple occasions that he would not regret his first time—and he truly didn't want to—because he would wait. He would wait and do it when it felt right and when he thought it was with the right person.

She honestly did not have anything to worry about as far as that went. But she still always walked in to check to make sure he was not indulging in that any longer. She really did want him to have his first time be enjoyable even if it was messy and full of fumbles and awkward moments.

She had regretted hers and she was dead set on making sure that he never had to experience that same disappointment. He understood that, respected it, and he would gladly admit that he was rather happy that she did say those things every now and then. Because half of the school almost always seemed to be bragging about having slept with the hot girls and he was always flustered with it, wondering about it all.

"I don't think that sexual energy is the only thing that makes you feel okay or whatever, Yami. I think it's just exposure to me, honestly." He paused, his mind momentarily flashing to his conversation with his mother. Thinking about how often he heard those stories about conquests at school did not make him very happy to have this conversation with the other boy. How often had he been teased that he would be a virgin for the rest of his life? And how often had he thought of himself and Tea before? Looking at Yami for a moment, he wondered if he had had sex before as well. He then had to chastise himself about what this might do to the other boy in the first place. If he was sure it was sexual energy he needed to heal himself, then what would he be doing to him by denying him? But then, he did believe that it was exposure between the two of them that helped rather than _just_ sexual peaks. "I think...I think you're trying to push it where you shouldn't. You're extremely impatient and scared of me figuring out some way to kill you while you are still so weak."

Yami bristled and climbed to his feet from where he had been seated in the chair at his desk. He was unsure of what he might have been doing, but he had the sneaking suspicion that he had been looking at his reflection in the metal. It was an odd idea and he almost thought Yami might have supplied it, but then his mind drifted towards playing cards. When he glanced over the surface, there were none to be seen, however, and Yugi doubted that the other boy had been playing with invisible ones.

"Precautions are the way of survival," he snarled softly, red eyes flashing with a momentary insecurity. His jaw jumped slightly beneath his skin. "You either adapt to your situation and work with what you have to ensure you come out on top or you roll over and let yourself be killed."

"That's your opinion, not mine." He paused and chewed his cheek, watching Yami closely for a sign of anger or discomfort but now the other was studying him. "I am not going to hurt you. If I had planned to do that, I would have by now, Yami. Don't you get it yet? If I wanted to hurt you, I would have done so just like if you could kill me without repercussions it would have happened already."

He stayed silent for a moment and then bared his teeth at him, eyeing him warily before looking almost exhausted for a single bare split second. He thought he saw weight in his shoulders, dragging away the emotions in his eyes but it was gone again. It passed immediately. He was back to staring at him, his experience fierce. His eyes held a blatant warning, boring into his angrily, telling him to heed any thoughts he had towards his weakness.

He wanted to nod at him, to show that he understood, but realized immediately that Yami would react far worse to that than any soft spoken words or gentle attention. He did not want to have his acknowledgement, just to know that he would not overstep. With that in mind, he merely exhaled softly and then began speaking again.

"You know, I figured something out while I was doing homework yesterday. I was sitting where you just were and I was playing with my eraser and trying to figure out the answer to a math problem and it hit me. By the _gods,_ did it hit me." He laughed softly, shaking his head and falling silent once more. The other teen had raised his head slightly, snarling softly in warning that he was treading dangerous ground. Yugi frowned at him momentarily and then let out another small breath, watching him. "Here's the thing. You're not actually afraid of me. You're not afraid of yourself either. You're not afraid of death even. You are actually afraid of getting to the point where you are strong enough to stand on your own two feet again because when you do that, you might be _too_ strong. You think that if you manage some distance between us and only come back to get more energy from me, then you can sustain some kind of way of keeping us intact until the end of this."

"I don't care if you die," Yami spat, bristling. "I will never care if that happens."

"No, you're right. You wouldn't care. The only thing that would make you care about that is if you were taken with me. And you think that exposure to me for long amounts of time will mean that one of us is going to die. You think we can't coexist."

"We can't."

He said it so simply, with such conviction that Yugi almost stopped short. He wanted abruptly to agree and call it a day. It was both exhaustion and the authoritative knowledge behind his voice that made him pause before shaking his head.

"Yes, Yami, we can."

"No, you little, stupid, pathetic _fool!_ We cannot coexist! We will never be able to coexist! When around you, all I can think about is how easily your skin shreds and just how fragile human bones are. I want to break you in half and rip your heart out of your ribcage. I want to cut your scalp away with my nails and lick blood off my fingers. You have no idea how many times I have attempted killing you already."

"Twenty six—and counting if you do so again."

Yami froze in place. His eyes grew thrice their size. His mouth opened only a small millimeter. He blinked stupidly once. His expression twisted, head tilting to the side, the purest picture of alarmed astonishment Yugi had ever known in his life.

"Yeah, I started thinking about it. I was half asleep when it suddenly occurred to me several times that you had tried to kill me in my dreams and while I was asleep and when you choked me. You want to because you hate what I've done to you by playing with the Puzzle but you can't. Either it has to do _with_ the Puzzle or it has to do with this strange equilibrium that we're lacking now, but it's what's keeping me alive right now."

"Smart boy."

"Not the first time I've heard that," Yugi snorted playfully, "though with that asshole tone, maybe."

"Asshole tone? That's cute. You actually think to try to fight me through lecturing me about what voice I use."

"Bullshit. I don't want to fight you. In fact, if you really think you can do it, kill me here and now, Yami. I want to see if you can break your nature, because it's not nearly as one sided as you're attempting to make it."

The taller teen remained perfectly still. His eyes flashed, first with shock, then confusion, and finally temptation. He looked ready to lunge forward and rip his head from his shoulders but held himself in place. Yugi was unsure what it was that made his resolve hold him there, but he did not argue. Instead he watched as he finally clenched his jaw tightly and took a reluctant step back. The smaller boy chewed his cheek and sighed quietly at the action, somehow disappointed in its results.

He had not wanted to make him feel even more threatened than he already was, just to make him see the truth in his words. And, as the other looked at him, he felt miserable and pathetic for even thinking about it. Because now, Yami looked at him with such a pathetic expression that he thought maybe he had killed the other on the inside.

"Look, I don't plan to hurt you. I've never wanted to hurt you. I've never wanted to hurt _anyone."_

Yami straightened slightly, defensive and coiled like a snake, spitting, "But you have. You brought me here and the blood on my hands is shared with you. It's equal because you brought the threat here to your humble little world."

Yugi nodded slightly in consent towards the statement. "Yeah, I guess so."

The other boy looked startled and put out by the statement, almost as if he had expected him to fight and claw at him until they were truly tearing each other to pieces. His red eyes narrowed, briefly confused and then slightly frustrated before appearing blank. His lips pursed to the side the smallest fraction, and his canine poked out to puncture the soft skin. Yugi watched a small bead of blood appear but the expected sting did not come with it and he realized belatedly that the deity did not even seem to feel the little cut. He blinked, startled when he found the other glaring at him in open confusion and hatred as well as disgust, though the furrowed brows said he was struggling with grasping the situation. Such an easy agreement had obviously not been expected nor wanted.

"But we both know that I _cannot_ control you and even if I were to find a way, I wouldn't try," he admitted softly. Yami recoiled as if he had slapped him, his canine digging further into his lip. His eyes had grown owlish, shocked, and he was frozen when he collided with the desk chair. Yugi shrugged and smiled at him gently even as his lip began to sting furiously and he could see that the other's was beginning to swell. He had the urge to suck on it soothingly, but ignored the impulse.

"I don't want to take away someone else's free will, no matter what they do with it. I've never tried to do anything like that before and I never will. It's wrong. And I already know that trying to force you to do anything will only result in backlash that I don't think I can actually _handle._ So, no, I would never attempt to control you. I can try to stop you from killing if I'm there, but I don't want to have to force myself on you."

"Why?" he spat coldly, narrowing his eyes into slits. "I did it to you."

"Yeah...maybe. But I don't want to have to try to do the same to you. It isn't right and I...I don't blame you for doing what you did. You were trying to survive and I didn't know how to help you before. I do now, though. And I'll help you if you will let me."

Yami stared at him with such a comically shocked expression that he would have guffawed in another situation. His entire body was frozen, his mouth having opened into a tight "o" while his brows had shot up and he was unable to stop blinking. Another situation and he would have split his sides laughing. But this one was hardly even faintly amusing and the red eyed teen seemed to be shaking mentally, cracking and breaking. Vibrant waves of energy were curling off of him like the darkness that he had shown him at the park. He swore he heard grinding noises, grating metal and shattering glass, blood dripping, and furious ripples of raw pain surged into him, leaving him shivering as he stared at the other male.

"I don't _need_ your help," the other teen finally snarled after a moment, though even he recognized the hollowness and the lack of the bite he had been attempting. "I can handle this on my own!"

"Why does everything have to be a fight with you?" Yugi sighed, though he still found himself smiling and shaking his head in amusement; he had been guessing right earlier then. Yami would turn his nose up at offered help, but he was not so stupid as to completely reject it, obviously thinking it over. The smaller teen was almost certain that if he was careful enough with what words he chose, he could make the other feel compelled to do opposite of everything he said, just to spite him. He was not sure whether to be amused or thoroughly disappointed that he would allow himself to be manipulated so easily. "Can't you just let me help you?"

"I don't _need..."_ He paused, expression growing blank again. For a moment he was silent, and then his head tipped to the side. His eyes darkened a shade, and Yugi could see the thoughts churning behind them, his irises sparking as if lit by flames. He was clearly smart enough to know when he was not going to get very far with an argument. He did not want to consent to the help he was offered but he was also not foolish. He would not assume that he could do everything on his, own like someone else might. For all his arrogance, the deity was considering and thinking it all through, not even fighting him any longer in his idea. Finally, his eyes flickered towards the ceiling, lips curling back at the sky blue color that greeted him there, and abruptly turned back to him. "Very well. What is it that you have in mind?"

Yugi grinned slightly, looking him over with a sense of proud amazement. It was relieving to hear those words, to see how he was awaiting his direction rather than denying anything between them again. He put his hands in his pockets and then faltered when he saw the way the other stiffened. His shoulders rose the slightest bit, but not so far as to be too obvious, and he realized he expected him to pull something out, possibly to hit him with it. "Just sticking around each other," he replied slowly, frowning at the idea of Yami's distrust in him made so blatantly obvious. "I think it would work better than your plan. It might hurt—no, it _will_ hurt—and it sure as hell is going to be uncomfortable as fuck for the both of us, but honestly, I think it will be okay afterwards, don't you?"

The other boy stared for a moment and then sighed loudly enough that it became a sharp, ragged noise. "Very well," he relented, appearing frustrated once more. "We shall attempt it. I do not know what the fuck you expect from it, but I can tell you that it will not work."

"Oh, _please,_ you have no idea if it will or not," he teased gently, grinning at him widely when he gave him a soundless sneer in response. "If you did, you wouldn't have tried so hard your way instead of considering mine."

Yami scoffed loudly but didn't argue, instead turning away and shaking his head.

"But first, I wanted to try something," he admitted with a soft sigh. The deity turned his head just enough to look at him from the corner of his eye again, watching him with impatience. "I wanted to know if you would show me what it is that keeps you from just taking the Puzzle."

The other teen narrowed his eyes into slits, staring at him as if he expected it all to be a trap. Yugi supposed that it might seem that way in all actuality. If he had dragged Yami out of his world using it, he could imagine he would wary and upset with the idea. But he had tried to steal it several times as well, Yugi knew, and now he had gone about asking him to show him why he had not done just that. In all reality it sounded like something in a show, where someone outsmarted monster they were hunting and trapped them in a magical item for all eternity.

But Yami was not a monster. In fact, if Yugi was honest, he thought he might be one of the farthest things from one. If what he had been saying was to be believed, then he was a god. If it wasn't, then he was just an egotistical person. And a highly confused one at that. A violent, feral, confused egotist that seemed to have a rather warped conscious and cared nothing for anyone else.

He supposed that added even more to the idea of it seeming like a trap set for a movie or show. And, if Yami was reading his mind, he was probably wondering just what the hell he was even rambling on about.

He grinned when the other boy gave him a pointed look. His brows flattened, his lips pursed slightly, and Yugi got a clear idea of just how boring and bland the very line of his thoughts was for him.

"You _have_ tried to take it a couple of times. I mean, I guess I could understand that considering it's what brought you here so maybe it might send you back, but I don't know. I don't understand why you haven't just run off with it if you planned to do that..."

"Why?" he muttered, voice bordering cold laughter as he stared at him and then slowly shook his head when he saw that Yugi was serious. His amusement in such a situation was unwarranted when he looked upon his face and truly took in his determined expression. He could not, however, suppress the small, disbelieving grin that claimed his lips, and his insides felt cold as he looked at the other. His mouth pulled back slightly, curling away to show off his teeth minutely, unnerved, and his stomach churned painfully in remembrance. His blood hummed in his veins, though it felt as if ice had been placed within them, and he stared at him in honest puzzlement. "You...want to see _why_ you still have the Puzzle and I do not..."

It was so hesitant that it came out of his mouth sounding like a question. Yugi frowned slightly, startled by his tone, and then blinked at him as he nodded and murmured, "Yeah, I do."

A low, gargling quality accompanied the small exhale the other let out. It was almost as if he were attempting to growl and failing before he smirked and started over to him, stopping a foot away. "Take it off and hold it out," he finally instructed, shaking his head again in disbelief as Yugi began to do as was asked of him. He swallowed thickly, watching him closely and looking it over as the smaller teen cupped the bottom of the upside down pyramid and stretched his arms out for him to reach.

His insides burned and recoiled at the very thought. He felt his fingers already heating and blistering, the sharp pain making his head ring painfully. He stared at the other boy's hands, his palms which seemed to glitter with the refracted light the Puzzle granted against his skin. His mouth grew dry, tasting as if he had eaten raw flesh, and for a moment he wanted to turn tail and run. Rather, his body was frozen and rooted, giving him an acute incapability to move forward or turn away.

The very bane of his existence rested in the palms of the very core of his new prison of flesh and blood. Blankly, his mind circled back and forth between the two facts, struggling to comprehend. His mouth curled slightly, disgusted with his own hesitation, but he knew what it was that kept him there. He did not want to touch it. He did not want to be within the same room as it. His stomach jerked and burned and for a moment he stared at it without quite looking at it, seeing almost through it and to the delicate lines of purple and blue that made up Yugi's veins along his wrists. He thought of twisted branches in a tree, the way the leaves had their own little delicate spider webs of nutrients coursing from the stem of it.

His eyes slowly flickered towards Yugi's face for a moment. He thought momentarily of how the heart was the core of his being, the very stem like those of a leaf's. It circulated the blood. It would be so easy to tear it right from his chest...

He blinked and looked back down again. It was disgusting how his hesitance crept upon him like this. It felt like an eternity before he reached for it, but he knew it had only been the smallest fraction of a second. Time was warped in his head, moving slower than it did in reality. He might think hours had passed and only minutes had. It was nothing surprising for him in all actuality. His reality and existence had never once been consumed by time or its passage. It had been something that affected others but never him. Time had not held importance when put in effect upon immortality.

He reached out without much thought to truly touch it. The wave of energy that came from the artifact was a violent wave of pulsating lightning. It slammed through him, coming off hot and then chilling his bones seconds later. It was enough to make Yugi flinch and almost step back. It slammed into them violently enough that Yami stopped short for a brief split second. His eyes flickered and danced, growing dilated for a second, and then shot to Yugi's. The smaller teen nodded at him in encouragement, eyes determined, and Yami reached out just enough to press his fingertips to the hollow golden pendant.

Yugi screamed as fire burst through his limbs. His entire body seized in place for a split second. Yami snarled furiously, recoiling violently. His fingers pulsated with pain and heat. The smell of burning flesh hit the air immediately. The Puzzle blazed a path of energy through Yugi's blood. The artifact dropped violently to the floor. He yelped in pain and his hands trembled. He looked his palms over immediately. His fingers quaked violently. His fingertips were growing swollen. The skin pulled upwards in a furious bump. It had blistered right before his eyes. The flesh alonghis palms was inflamed, reddened, as if he had just stuck them in an open flame.

"Oh my god!" he cursed, mumbling the words weakly. His ears caught the sound of a low, keening noise. Vaguely, he recognized the edges of the whisper as it curled and grew. It bubbled and burst and the sound grew harsher in volume. His head rose slightly but he did not pull his eyes away from his reddened hands. He blinked in confusion when he realized his eyesight was blurry and weak, strained and giving him visions of doubles in diluted colors. The floor looked gray, scratchy and strange, the fibers glittering as if struck by the sunlight. His hands had grown a strange, grayish color, the red flaring like bright blood spilled there.

Slowly, he pulled his eyes upwards. His double vision granted him a disgusting image he did not recognize at first. For a moment his mind could not grasp it. Yami had his head down, hunched over nearly completely. He looked as if he had been folded like clothing. His hands were in his hair, cast like pale streaks against dark black. His fingers were clenching his scalp so tightly that Yugi feared he might draw blood. He opened and closed his mouth, panicked at the sight.

His vision was still darkened and distorted. Colors seemed to burst like stars behind his skull. His eyesight danced and blurred. Weakly, he squeezed his eyes shut tightly. For a moment he almost choked as his insides burst with icy water along his stomach. Abruptly, he found his mind focused solely on the Puzzle. It came in trickles of light and color, slamming through him violently.

He blinked his eyes open again. His eyes shot to the floor. The only thing his vision could fully focus upon was the item itself. The impact with the floor had dislodged several pieces. They were easily fixed, but they were gleaming and glittering where they shouldn't have been. Yami's shadow was blocking the light from the window. It terrified him enough to reach out shakily. The shadow his hand passed over was unnaturally cold, like winter air. But as his fingers got closer to the Puzzle, the air burst with heat.

He stumbled and nearly fell to his knees. He wished pathetically in that moment that Yami might start snapping at him to fix it. He wished he would snarl to put it together immediately. He needed something to jog his senses at that moment. His ears were pounding with some kind of hideous silence, as if his mind had fallen into a bubble. It burst his eardrums—or at least it seemed to—but something caught his attention abruptly. The sound of a vibrating snarl made him jerk.

The noise burst upwards almost akin a furious scream. His ears ached with it, his mind pulsing with panic as it registered within his mind. He blinked, vision still split but somehow focused on the Puzzle once more. The light glinted across his eye, golden and painful where it struck his cornea. The noise grew louder, keener, and the guttural undertone seemed to make his blood rush in his veins. It jerked his muscles and he snatched at a piece on the carpet. He anticipated the heat, mind surging with the energy that had met him the first time it had happened. He drew the temperature to the forefront of his mind, recognizing the way it pulsated and then vanished. They were cold, sharp and lingering and chilled like chips of ice beneath his fingers.

Yugi shook off his horrified surprise and scooped them together. The Puzzle lay on its broken edges. He swatted it, Yami's cries making him cringe. He struggled, hands shaking, and the sound of the pieces colliding made him want to cry pathetically. They clicked into place with resounding conviction, however, and he trembled with relief. Quaking, he attempted the last piece and a low sob escaped him when it did not connect. He struggled harder, whimpering under his breath, and his mind ached with the dull echo of Yami's snarls. A small, vague thought drifted through his attention that it was somehow _fighting him_ in order to not be placed together again. He hissed and focused on the other boy's distress, determination bursting through his veins. He pressed it firmly into place, ignoring the tremors that continued to rack his body.

The moment it was lodged once more was the very second he was thrown sideways.

They rolled and hit the wall. His head collided with the plaster. His ears rang with a brutal silence. His thighs ached with the knees pressing into them. His hips ached where a hand clawed at his skin through the fabric of his jeans and shirt. A hand pressed itself into his throat, pushing his Adam's apple painfully. He swallowed and choked. His eyes refused to open, burning and bursting with colors. The hand clawing at his skin slipped beneath his shirt. Nails dug in and split skin. He let out a pained cry but didn't raise a hand to stop him. His eyes snapped open, painfully acute as his vision shot into Yami's face. There was no chance of escape. He winced as he was squeezed violently. He watched him blankly, unsure of what more he could do. Yami recoiled suddenly, grabbing at his skull again.

"You piece of shit," Yami snarled, clenching his jaw. Yugi stared in horror at the other boy's hands. The tendons were bunching and shifting beneath his skin. They twisted and writhed like living snakes. "You just...Don't want to kill me—isn't that a fucking laugh."

"I don't want to—I didn't mean to do that, Yami," he pleaded pathetically. He stumbled weakly forward onto his knees. He reached to check on him. Curved nails attached to hooked fingers swung for his face. He dodged away with just a hair's breadth between Yami's middle finger and his left eye. "I didn't—I said I wanted to see what happened when you touched it! I didn't know this was what..."

"You tried to send me back inside of it!" Yami accused furiously, spitting at him. His saliva was foaming, bubbling at the corners of his mouth. He spun on him with a vicious expression. His lips were trembling where they were bared. His eyes were wild, dilated to pinpricks of starburst black. "You tried to send me back! But you don't seem to understand that I _can't go back!"_

"Inside of...?" he repeated blankly. His mind struggled to grasp the meaning of his statement. His focus spun and twisted, warped by the panic that still pulsed inside of him. The other boy bared his teeth at him again. He eyed the artifact with a cautious expression. He backed up several steps and kept close watch. "Y you were in inside of...?"

"There is no way to go back," the teen spat, spinning on him once more. His eyes flashed and flickered as if they had become live flames. The shades of red spun and changed every moment. _"You_ fucking did this."

Yugi shook his head a few times. He tried to catch up with his statement. But his mind was still reeling. Had he truly been _inside_ of the Puzzle? _His_ Puzzle? The Millennium Puzzle, the one that his grandpa had given him? The one that he had always been afraid would make him lose his mind and die or...or _something?_

Had Yami been the cause of those who had lost their minds? Or had it been the Puzzle itself? As it had attacked them moments ago, had it killed all of those people? Was the Puzzle to blame for Yami's behavior? Was it the source of that feral quality that lingered beneath his skin? Or was that just who he was? Was there no actual line to be drawn between them?

"You—you lived inside of the—"

Yugi yelped at the punch that slammed across his face. He was sent colliding back against the wall once more. The other teen was panting. His distorted pupils had contracted into mere pinpricks. His teeth were bared but he looked more frustrated than furious. They stared at each other. A moment passed and Yugi's stomach dropped. His cheek felt swollen, aching in rapid pulses.

Yami had simply wanted him to shut up so that he might think straight for a moment. He had not meant to actually hurt him. He had just wanted distance between them so that he could actually grasp at the idea that had sent him into such a downward spiral. The other boy stared at him now, silent. He was furious but not enough to turn on him again.

"S-sorry," he muttered, trying to make his cheeks curve with a smile on his lips. He winced at the sharp pain in his skin, however, and faltered completely. He reached up to rub gently where Yami had just clipped him. The other teen breathed in harshly. He watched him closely. They stared at each other again. Then the red eyed teen turned away, closing his eyes and sighing softly. Yugi got to his feet. He started towards him slowly. "Look, I didn't mean—"

"Come any closer to me and I will rip your damn spine out, regardless of what it does to me," Yami snarled. He spun on him before moving towards the Puzzle. Yugi watched, a little mystified, as the other teen turned around as if to face the eye, which he knew was turned upwards, and reached out. He snatched his hand back immediately. The air smelled once more of charred flesh.

However, his fingers merely looked blistered. Yugi glanced slowly towards the Puzzle again, confused and horrified.

When he looked up again, he felt his heart plummet and his shoulders sag at the other boys absence.

* * *

"You're back!"

He started forward but halted when Yami held his hand up. Dark red eyes were on his abdomen. They flashed with immense ferocity, distinct in his hatred, and he shivered despite the direction it was truly aimed towards.

"Do _not_ bring that thing near me again."

Yugi blinked and then looked down for a split second. At first he could not understand, still shocked from their experience the day before. However, he jerked it away without hesitation, tossing it onto the bed. Yami's head turned, staring at it disdainfully, and the smaller teen breathed out roughly. He thought for a moment that, had the Puzzle dropped over the side of the bed, it might break again. Panic swarmed his insides, horrified, and he wanted nothing more than to reach out and touch him. He wanted to make sure he was okay. And he admitted, without a single thought, that whatever it was that made the Puzzle drag Yami there from whatever other world he had been in, he was grateful for it.

For a split second the other teen did not move. Then his eyes flickered slowly towards him, skeptical, and peered at him through his lashes. Yugi blinked and then grinned, realizing slowly that the thought had passed into Yami's mind as well.

"What? You're _far_ more interesting than hearing Joey go on about Mai or Tea talk about dancing or Tristan complain about how Miho only likes him for his money," he snickered, teasing playfully. "And the Puzzle sure as fuck doesn't do anything aside from hang around my neck so..."

"And I am still not an experiment for you to play with," Yami spat, bristling and giving the Puzzle another lingering stare as if he expected it to take some new form and leap out at him. Yugi wondered momentarily if he might still feel its magic against his skin. Was it still giving off a small pulse of something akin that forceful wave that had hit them both the day before? If it was, he could not blame him for being so suspicious and unhappy with the very idea of being in the same room as it. "Which means you should find some new form of entertainment."

"Except that I don't really need to because I don't picture you as a source of entertainment," Yugi stated with a frown, shaking his head at him. "I just think you're fascinating as opposed to that kind of stuff. If I wanted to think of you as entertainment, I would consider you a TV show or a video game. And you're not those two things, _are_ you, Yami?"

The red eyes flickered towards him for a moment. He shrugged slightly and seemed almost at a loss about what to say to that statement. His eyes were unnaturally uncertain, and his expression morphed quickly into a blank mask that made the smaller teen smile faintly. He didn't want him to feel so uncomfortable, but he did his best to relieve some of that by looking towards the clock and then back again.

"Well...I'm glad that you didn't stay gone all day," he commented warmly, eyes sparkling as they bore into the other's. His own gaze widened slightly, staring in open confusion and a guarded alarm. The moment the emotions registered in his head, however, those red eyes narrowed quickly. They disappeared beneath the shade of his lashes, becoming two blank slates of dark red glass around his pupils. "I don't know what exactly I would have done if you hadn't come back. It was a nice surprise to come back upstairs after working with Grandpa all day, anyways..."

The other teen still did not respond to his statement, blinking once. His eyes narrowed further, slits of gleaming dark red, opting for silence rather than bothering with a reply.

"I thought I should probably teach you how to work with chopsticks but I kind of feel like finger food—pizza, maybe. Yeah, I think I'll order a pizza! Grandpa is going to bed early so if you want, you can come out into the kitchen or just hang out in here. I'll sneak some food in—though my mom might be a little pissed about—"

"Do not bother."

"What?" A sliver of alarm crept through the air between them. Yami's lip curled back to show off his left canine. His eyes flashed dangerously and Yugi realized immediately that he was only reacting to his emotions rather than meaning to threaten him. "Are you not...going to stay the night?"

The question startled him enough to blink but his voice came out frustrated when he growled, "Yes, I had planned to stay the night. I just do not care for food. I am not hungry."

Yugi opened his mouth to snap at him. He had to be hungry. But then his mind flashed back to their argument before. His mouth opened and closed once before he looked away, eyes flickering towards the corner of his long lashes. "I can't...I can't give you that—I mean...I I could but not...not now."

The other teen shook his head sharply, eyes snapping towards the ceiling in vivid frustration. "I did not say that I wanted that, now did I, Yugi? I merely said not to bother with food. I said I would at least _attempt_ your little plan of us evening out or whatever through exposure to one another. That is what I had planned to do. Eat your food and don't bother with bringing anything back here. I will not eat it." He paused for a moment, studying him with his head tilted to the side. He looked puzzled only for a second before his lips pulled back to grace him with a wide, wicked smirk. "But you should know, that if I do this and it fails, I want you to agree to my terms as well."

Yugi chewed his cheek, biting his lip and watching him for a moment. He knew better than to place something like this as part of a bet. After struggling with his self esteem when it came to banter about conquests in school and consequentially agreeing with his mother on the idea of not regretting his first time, agreeing to this seemed rather ironic. However, when it came down to it, if it meant helping Yami out—and himself as well—why should he ever regret it?

"Yeah, all right. If this fails, then you can have me," he stated calmly, resisting the urge to lick his lips and swallow hard. He fought back a small shiver, though he was unsure whether it was fear or exhilaration at the moment. The emotions already twisting in the air did nothing to give him answers as it was. "But it won't fail."

"Except that it will and I _will_ have you."

"It won't."

"It will."

He smiled and shook his head, amused by the stubbornness and the smug expression that lit those irises in a beautiful incandescent ruby. "Whatever, Yami," he argued teasingly, his lips pulling back further when the other smirked in response. "I'm going to go talk my mom into letting me order pizza. And when this over, I'm going to have fun laughing at how wrong you were."

Yami raised a brow, challenge glittering in his eyes. "Funny. I don't think you will have a voice _left_ when I finish with you."

Yugi felt his entire face heat at the words, swearing even his ears had taken up the hue. His skin burned as he stared at the other boy who chuckled in amusement and shook his head, dismissively shooing him away with a small flick of his wrist. The smaller boy turned on his heel immediately, head spinning, and shut the door behind him as he made his way for the kitchen. His stomach twisted with nerves and his blood felt hotter beneath his skin once more.

As it was, he was acutely aware of just how deep rooted and almost physical this entirely too powerful attraction between them was. And, when he thought about it, he was sure that at the end of it all, they would wind up having sex anyways. It was hard enough trying to fight Yami off when he was only kissing him, whether he really wanted to or not, and even if his plan of exposure worked, he had no doubt he would fold like a leaf to Yami's will. It was not so much of a question of if but rather of _when._

They both knew that, which was why Yami was so smug in that little room of his. He was smirking in there—Yugi could _feel_ it. It seemed impossible to contain it, regardless of their connection. It seemed to surge through the walls and encompass the very house. He was probably on the bed waiting for him or possibly the chair considering the Puzzle was on the mattress.

The fact remained, however, that he was not under the delusion that just because they maybe made Yami feel better that the attraction would change. If anything, it would grow deeper. It was so deeply ingrained in him that he was pretty sure he would always be more wrapped around the other teen than he would anyone else. It was unfair and cruel to think about, restricting by all means, but it was oddly nice to feel that way about something, someone—anything, any_one._

Maybe Yami was not an ideal person to have as a friend. He was intimately dangerous and Yugi was well aware of that. But it was not something to stand between him and trying to reach out. And, when he considered it fully, he knew it was more of a thought process that circulated around possession. He wanted Yami for his own, despite himself and his morals. It had to be the weirdest experience of his life attempting to navigate through that kind of situation but it was not enough to make him second guess.

If anything, it just made him that much more assured that he needed to do it.

The only real question to consider was whether or not he and Yami would come out of the situation completely okay again.

Yugi went about looking for his mom, feeling a small niggling fear in the back of his mind as his thoughts circulated back for a moment.

He didn't think that he had ever actually _been_ completely okay before.

Not once in his life.

He glanced over his shoulder and into the hallway, staring at his door for a moment before shaking it off and wandering along again.

If he was broken now, he did not think he could break more than he already was. So, when he thought about it, this thing with Yami could either help them or simply leave them in the same place they were already in.

Yugi did not think it would be a failure, just that it would take time and be more stressful than it would potentially successful at first. There was more to the idea of failure than there was to success but he pushed it away.

It would work.

He knew somewhere deep in his gut that all of it would work.

His plan.

Yami's plan.

Both of them would work.

Though he questioned which one would be the one to work out first.

* * *

He glanced over from his chemistry book, balancing it in front of him on the bed while the other teen continued flipping cards and laying them out before him. Several times Yugi swore he heard him talking. He was either whispering or thinking a little loudly. It was just enough for the ideas to slip into his head, but every time he looked, Yami was absorbed in his little game. He did not know what he was playing, if he even _was_ playing a game, but it was more interesting to look at him than his chemistry book and the notes that lay around him. If it wasn't the weekend his mom would have him seated in his desk all afternoon working on his study guides—and Yami would be long gone, he supposed. Thankfully, however, he was now able to relax where he lay across his bed on his stomach with the book in front of him. It was flipped to that page that he knew he should have been paying attention to but found far too boring to keep his focus.

There was a small hint of contentment in the air that he knew came from Yami. He himself was far too frustrated with the words on his pages that he was slowly losing his mind over. The red eyed boy was simply flipping cards around and occasionally sorting them back into a deck to shuffle.

Yugi vaguely wondered if he was once again thinking about how the cards felt against his fingers, the smooth and crisp quality that they possessed. But asking meant running the risk of breaking Yami out of whatever little bubble of peace that he had found himself in.

He shook his head and turned back to the page he had been staring at blankly for the last twenty minutes. A movement from the corner of his eye made his attention snap towards the other teen once more. Yami was putting a card down, and the action caused him to sit up with a small frown. He scanned the cards, curious to decipher what game he might be playing, but the other teen had no discernible method to the cards he put down. He kept arranging them a certain way, however, sometimes with two or more but never more than three...

"Okay, what the hell are you doing?" he finally asked, flustered as he pushed his book away from him. He sat up a little more, eyes wide as he looked at the cards again, and tried to focus more fully on what the other might be doing. Was it some kind of game he had never played or—?

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. I like the colors."

His excitement towards the aspect of learning a new game died immediately. His statement made his insides tingle for a moment. He sighed softly and something cold and slimy crawled its way up his throat with disappointment. "Oh."

"Sorry to disappoint," Yami snorted, chuckling.

_"Liar,"_ the smaller scoffed, rolling his eyes and fighting away a smile. "You're not sorry at all."

"No, I am not. Your expression just made my day."

"Oh well, isn't that just nice?" he drawled, running a hand through his hair in frustration. He blinked and his eyes flickered over as he considered the papers in front of him again. "I don't suppose you—?"

"No."

Yugi did not even try the "You don't know what I was going to say" statement. Of course he knew. He was somewhere in his head, listening to his thoughts and not bothering with even an _attempt_ at hiding them.

"You're an ass."

"Aren't I? Maybe it would be easier if you just—"

"Fuck. No." He turned to him fully, about to follow it with a further quip, but wound up laughing instead. Yami's entire face had turned into a petulant expression, his eyes narrowed and his lips pursed in frustration. He snorted loudly and Yugi grinned widely as he shook his head, expression playful. "Not happening."

"Right. I suppose you have your little concubines for that," Yami spat in annoyance. His eyes burned into his for a moment, clear and dark, with open anger and disgust. Then his head turned abruptly back to his cards.

"What the hell are you even...?" Yugi muttered, shaking his head after a moment in confusion. He couldn't wrap his mind around what the other meant, and his eyes narrowed in his daze. "I don't have concubines. What are you even...? Goddamn it, Yami, talk to me for a second, would you?"

"The brunettes," he hissed, a snide little remark that made his voice sound as if he had snakes echoing the words. His eyes flashed even where his lashes cut through his gaze, glaring at the cards. "The blind one and the one at the arcade."

"Serenity and Tea? They're friends—"

"You love the blue-eyed one."

Yugi halted, surprised by the statement, and frowned as he shook his head. "...Not _quite...love,"_ he admitted after a long moment. He blinked, staring at the other boy, wondering if he was unhappy with that statement. "It's...not exactly love. It's more...yes, okay, I love her as a friend. And sometimes I wish we were more but it's not as if I need her to breathe or love her as in...I want to be with her forever or something like that."

Yami's eyes narrowed minutely and his head tilted slightly. "Is there truly a difference, Yugi?" he drawled skeptically, the edges of his words guttural with something like disdain. "You lust after her."

"I...Not really. I..." Yugi trailed off for a moment and then shook his head. His lips pulled up into a small fraction of a smile, a pang of sympathy passing through him for the other boy. He was getting riled up and frustrated about the two of them for no reason. "It's a crush. Everyone gets them at some point. And as far as 'lusting' after her goes, I don't think so. I've never exactly...had one of those moments where I thought she was incredibly hot and I had to be with her or anything like that."

The two of them avoided eye contact for a long moment and then Yami finally looked up, glowering in annoyance.

"And what about her and...Serenity?"

Yugi laughed at the way that he spat the brunette's name out. He felt bad for doing it but couldn't help it. "First of all, Serenity is Joey's little sister who has an admiration crush on me. Second, she's too young for me. Third, Joey is my best friend and his sister is _off_ limits. And, as for Tea, I don't think she likes me back. I know that Joey and Tristan tease me a lot about it, but I seriously don't think she does."

"Why not?"

"Just...well...because we've been friends forever and it would be awkward to go from that to being a couple."

"Why?"

"Because it's a different kind of..." He trailed off for a moment and then smiled a little, looking him over. Yami looked more confused and slightly flustered than anything else, brows furrowed and head tilted, mouth pulled into a full grimace. He was not as nasty as he had been moments before. He was not about to sneer again and the realization made him smile a little more. He was curious, willing to listen. "There are a bunch of different types of love. And there are some that have to stay the way they are and never change. It's just something that happens."

"You are all a bunch of fucking complications," he snapped with a shake of his head. Immediately his attention fell back upon the cards on the floor, ignoring him except to say, "Never mind explaining. I'm done listening."

He burst out laughing and he swore he felt a small lick of amusement between the hints of agitation that came from the other teen.

They were sitting on the floor, Yugi about to teach him how to play War while Yami seemed to get most of the rules by chance. He did, however, occasionally seem to falter on what he was doing as if he had forgotten almost immediately despite having just had it explained to him. He would not come closer than the few inches that sat between them as a barrier of space where the Puzzle rested. The smaller teen could not blame him for that, especially after the effects he himself had felt alongside him. But it did get a little frustrating as he wanted him closer and Yami was too smart to risk getting himself in another situation with the piece of gold.

He wanted to toss it aside, move closer, see what perhaps Yami might do. He knew he wouldn't fight him, but he wondered if perhaps he would grow frustrated and lash out verbally until he pulled away.

But the idea was gone as swiftly as it began.

"I need to ask you something."

He stayed silent for a long minute, waiting impatiently for him to continue the statement. "What?" he finally asked, voice edged with slight irritation, eyes narrowed as he watched him. The smaller teen glanced at him for a moment before looking down again, biting his lip and swallowing thickly.

"You said that you...were inside the Puzzle."

"Yes."

"But you said you're a god. I don't understand. How could you be inside of the Puzzle if you were...? Explain this to _me—please—because_ it's starting to hurt not knowing."

"Insatiable curiosity will do that to you," Yami sniped coldly before turning away and looking up at the ceiling. Yugi saw his eyes flash violently for a moment and his own gaze fell on the slope of the walls once more, lips tugging into a frown. The other teen was probably never going to grow comfortable with the small room. It was too tiny a space for him, it seemed as if the very angle made him want to lash out, and he knew without much thought that he was always conscious of it.

"I do not remember everything. I remember small bits and pieces and some of them bleed together but the general concept is that the Puzzle was at one point or another _mine._ It was a gateway to something—this world or another or something—but I don't remember what."

Yugi nodded slightly. "But you said you were inside it—"

"Yes, yes, I said that. I said that I was inside of the fucking Puzzle. For the last eight _years_ I have been slipping between the Puzzle when you tried to put it together and the other world," Yami snarled viciously, eyes flashing dangerously. "In the other world, I was revered as a god. I don't know why or what happened to make it so, only that I was. Many of the people or...creatures or whatever existed in there would bleed and disappear. One day they would exist and the next they would start to...almost _melt._ Their skin would peel away from their bodies and disappear into the darkness. Eventually I was the only one left."

He paused, beginning to say something else, but fell immediately silent. His jaws worked, picking at his cheek, while Yugi stared at him in shock. It was obvious that he did not truly understand what he was saying but he did attempt to picture it and the images in his head made him want to puke. His cheeks had grown a very slight green, skin becoming pale, and he barely resisted the urge to burst into laughter at the sight of it.

"That day at the park, when I tore your card," the taller stated, nodding once slowly. The smaller boy's eyes flashed, and where he thought it would be frustration or hatred, there was only pain and sorrow to greet him. He assumed that was directed towards the loss of the card rather than anything else, but it had faded within a moment. Yugi began to chew on his lip, watching him with an encouraging expression, hoping he would continue, and Yami narrowed his eyes. "I took you to that place, the place that the Puzzle dragged me out of."

"That place...was extremely painful. I don't see why you would want to go back."

Yami stayed silent for a moment and the other teen stared. He blinked, confused by his blank expression, and then his mouth began to feel dry as realization began to plague him. Yami didn't want to go back. He wanted to make sure that he _couldn't_ unless he was the one doing it. He was just angry that Yugi had brought him into a world that he did not understand, where he bled and could easily die...

"I didn't know how to breathe for the first three days," the other boy suddenly stated, shifting away from him. He leaned back against the cool edge of the metal desk, only a few inches away from the chair's leg. He peered at him through lidded eyes, expression somewhat cold. "My heart wasn't working either. It started and then stopped again and it would not beat right. I didn't know what the fuck I was supposed to do with that. I didn't know how to use my lungs and half the time I thought I was slipping back into the other world but it was the Puzzle that was drawing me back. You didn't wear it much after you had actually managed to put it together."

"It didn't feel right if Grandpa couldn't see it when it was finished. I wanted the first time I wore it to be when Grandpa was home," Yugi explained, frowning and chewing his cheek as he swallowed hard. "And he came back for a couple of days after I had finished it. And then...you showed up at the arcade..."

"Yes, I came to kill you for bringing me here, to this stupid world. I was feral and furious. Everything was distorted and broken and half of the time I could not hear or see. My mind was broken in shards...and I knew you by the aura you gave off." He paused, a wry smirk crossing his face and making his lazy posture seem predatory instantaneously. "I could feel it when you worked with the Puzzle, when it first started to draw me from that world to it. I planned to kill you but the moment I stepped into the arcade from the back, something happened..."

"Yeah? The vision thing? Because if it's not the vision thing, then I'm going to flip out."

"...What did you see?"

"Dark colors and sharp lines. Like everyone was a sketch and inverted and stuff. What about you?"

"...Bright colors and soft lines. Some of it was more vibrant than others and sometimes things got fuzzy and bled together, but it was enjoyable for the moment," he muttered, shrugging and lowering his eyelids a little bit more as he watched him through slits of gleaming red. "It was not painful. It was probably the first experience I had where I did not hate you or myself or everything around me."

Yugi stared at him for a long time and then shivered. "Why do you look like me?"

"Why?" he echoed quietly. "You don't understand why I look like you?"

"Well...no...not...not really," he admitted after a moment, frowning. "I really don't..."

"...Then figure it out. It shouldn't be too hard for you."

Yugi blinked. "No, wait, why can't you just tell me?"

"Where would the fun in that be? I wish to watch you squirm."

He shook his head, about to snap at him in annoyance, but found himself smiling a little instead, rolling his eyes. "All right, fine. I'll figure it out and then rub it in your face when I do."

"If you rub something in my face, I'm going to fucking castrate you," Yami spat, baring his teeth and glaring at him immediately; the other teen stared at him in shock for a moment and then sighed, shaking his head. He didn't understand the phrase. Yugi nearly clapped his hands at himself, feeling brilliant.


	14. Chapter XIV

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Warning: Cursing should be relatively mild but sometimes grows a little more at times, Season 0 Yami...and he's a little more unhinged than usual, so keep that in mind**.

**Note: There are mentions of blood, some graphic images of death, sensual moments and feelings, touches of violence/abuse**

**Update Schedule: I was going for bi-weekly updates, but it's definitely not looking that way now :P**

**Writing Note: I'm trying a new, more descriptive style for a story I plan to write later so tell me how I did with it?**

**Anyways, the story is a way to help get rid of some writer's block I'm dealing with so it's serving as a style-trial and a way to get back into writing.**

**So I was looking at the author's note for last chapter and I literally both cringed AND laughed at part of my last statement. Crap. "I'm pretty sure it took me longer to edit this chapter using me phone". I'm still slightly embarrassed by that but I guess it's not really that big a deal lol. Anyways, again, if there are any extremely misplaced or misspelled words, I blame autocorrect. If you want to point them out, go ahead, but again, it's probably going to be a little while before I can go back and edit them completely.**

**Anyways, same warning applies as before. Yugi and Yami might give the illusion of coming together but they're really not. In all actuality, nothing has really changed between them as visibly as it seems (something that you will find out more about in the sequel when I finally get a move on with it). Yami adapts more than he does accept things, so keep that in mind as you continue reading.**

**And, since I completely forgot to add this to the last author's note before posting, to dindundon: Thank you. I'm glad you enjoy it so much. I had a response for your last review but I got sidetracked and I guess I forgot to put it in here. Anyways, I'm glad you enjoy the chemistry between the characters. I always have the feeling whenever I write a fic that most of the time the characters are OOC and it frustrates me a lot. But giving them different circumstances does sometimes call for a change of character, no matter how small or large it might seem sometimes. So I'm extremely grateful that that doesn't seem to be the case with this story. LOL I actually have SO many plans for both Yami and Yugi that this first start of the mini-series doesn't even begin to cover them. Yami actually has SO many secrets and revelations to come honestly so I'm really pleased that it catches someone's attention enough to make them theorize and keep reading. That's honestly a great accomplishment to me because I've always wanted to have with one of my stories. Thank you again, for both reading and reviewing. Hopefully you enjoy the newest chapter as much as you have the others.**

**Also, I was editing aand realized I accidentally made a pun in there. I'm hoping if you guys find it then I won't end up being the only one who giggled like an idiot over it. **

Chapter XIV

He guessed he should have known better than to think that Yami didn't know he was watching him, studying him. He should have realized that Yami knew he was trying to figure things out that probably did not matter nearly as much to the red-eyed teen as they did him. But for whatever reason he had not thought it through. Whenever he looked up, however, and found Yami watching him so closely in response, it was impossible to mistake the meaning behind it. He was mocking him but at the same time he was snickering at his idea of study and Yugi could not help but laugh at him. Yami did not even attempt at discretion as he had. Instead he merely stared, eyes boring into his skin and making his flesh itch with nerves. Once or twice he had actually gone over to the desk from his spot on the bed and stuck his face in front of his. When he would look over, his face would immediately go red and he would look away but Yami still would not move. He would breathe against his cheek with the close proximity, refusing to leave for several minutes no matter how hard he pushed on his shoulders to try to make him go away.

"Okay, okay, I'm _sorry_!" Yugi laughed, reaching out to push him away, surprised when his hand met his forehead. All the other times the taller teen had caught his hands and pinned them. He would sneer at him to get his hands free himself when he told him to let go. He turned his head, startled, and found himself frowning in puzzlement. Yami was staring at his textbook, eyes keen and thoughtful, curious by all means. For a moment he looked as if he were enamored with the sight of whatever it was his eyes had fallen upon, and then finally he glanced at him and tapped the picture.

The smaller boy looked down once more, eyes widening at the image. It was a wolf pack in the snow, with a massive gray wolf in the front and two black yearlings playing while their mother—a silver she-wolf with bright green eyes—trotted at her mate's side. The caption beneath the image was one explaining that wolves were social animals but the one beside it was of a healthy-looking dark-furred male. It had caught an elk and had been captured mid-bite, golden eyes looking around as if expecting to find danger at every corner. The caption read that while the wolf was a social animal and they lived in packs, sometimes a wolf would live on its own for years without others, considered a lone wolf.

"That's what you said I was like before…right?" Yami asked after a moment, making him blink and slowly look up in surprise. Yugi blinked in confusion at the idea of it and then frowned slightly. "With the whole control conversation we were having?"

"Yeah," he stated softly, pulling his hand away and blinking in surprise. He glanced back at the pictures again, frowning slightly as he considered. He had never thought that Yami might be curious about something like that. He had never seemed very interested in listening to him and the fact that he even remembered the conversation made him feel oddly warm. "They're…well, never mind. Maybe you can look them up some time or something."

Yami tapped his nail slowly against the picture of the solid black animal where it was hunched over its carcass. His teeth worked at the inside of his cheek, his eyes growing narrow as he looked the image over once more. "Perhaps," he drawled, voice seemingly bored though his eyes were keen. "Or I could leave you here and try to see if I could find one."

Yugi choked violently on his tongue. His mouth fell open, eyes nearly popping out of his head, and found himself gaping sporadically for a split second. He shook his head instantly, startled and horrified, and blinked at him stupidly with wide blue-violet eyes. "No, no, don't do that!" he snapped with such an edge that Yami appeared surprised, though he blinked and seemed to regain composure immediately as Yugi grabbed his arm with both hands. Very slowly those red eyes dropped downwards, locking on his hands, almost appearing not to understand why he was touching him or what part of the body they were. His lips curled back slightly, his eyes narrowing into gleaming slits, and he tilted his head only slightly as his expression darkened further. "Don't do that. I'd worry if you did that."

"And I should care about that…_why_ exactly?"

"Because we're still trying things my way right now and you're not supposed to go and worry me, remember?"

His red eyes blinked slowly once, a long drawn out motion that became apparent with frustration as they narrowed. He shook his head after a small moment, curling his lips back further in annoyance, and then tore his arm from his grip. "You're a bitch," he snarled, turning on his heel and huffing as he plopped down on the bed once more.

Yugi grinned widely; at this rate, bitch was becoming a term of endearment.

* * *

"School sucks."

"I never asked."

Yugi shot him an annoyed look and tossed his backpack towards his desk with a lazy flip of his wrist. He rolled his eyes, sighing, and threw himself onto the mattress with a belly flop accompanied by a harsh, "Whatever." For a long moment he could feel Yami's stare, cold and calculating and curious, intense, burning into his skin. From the corner of his eye he could make him out where he sat on the desk chair watching him. But then, abruptly, the red-eyed boy got to his feet and the movement pushed him from his line of vision with such efficiency that Yugi nearly panicked that he had disappeared for a moment.

"Oh, I am so terribly sorry, Yugi. I was not aware that when I agreed to this I would end up being your little shoulder to cry upon," Yami sneered, patting his shoulder with a falsely sympathetic expression and sniffling mockingly as if tears blurred his eyes. The smaller boy opened his mouth to tell him to shut up but wound up run over when he continued speaking. "'Oh my god, school sucks but I still go. Joey only talks about Mai anymore. You worry me. Tea is a whore—'"

He hated himself when he burst out laughing at the statement. His hands flew up to cover his mouth, smothering his guffaws only slightly. He glared at him, wishing he could reprimand him, but wound up only able to snicker harder. "Fuck, Yami, shut up," he grumbled, smiling too widely for the other teen to even consider taking him seriously. "She is not a—"

"'Vivian played with my hair today. The redhead's name is always so questionable. Like who even _remembers_ her? Oh my god, Tristan and Miho are fighting over a pocket watch she wants—limited _edition.'"_

Yugi shook his head, smiling widely, but then paused. His eyebrow rose slowly as he considered the other boy. "Why would you put emphasis on 'edition' and _not_ 'limited'? I think you're abusing your sarcasm."

"I think you need to take a cactus up the ass and _grow up."_

"A—gods, Yami, a fucking _cactus_?"

The red-eyed teen shot him a devious look. "Anything is a dildo if you're brave enough."

Yugi's mouth dropped open immediately, at first about to laugh again and then quickly growing horrified as the words connected in his head. Oh dear _gods,_ Yami must have gotten his hands on his porn tapes if he actually knew that word and what it meant. He had certainly never said it around him, careful not to have to awkwardly pile on something else that he needed to explain to him. He also had not wanted the red-eyed teen to begin to get ideas. He had kept from saying or even _thinking_ the word, regardless of whether he was speaking to Joey about something sexual. He had carefully filtered every single thought and word he spoke in order to avoid it so that Yami could not find it in his vocabulary somewhere.

He looked around slowly, cheeks burning, and felt momentarily as if the air had been knocked from his lungs with surprise. He had plugged in his tiny TV the night before so that he could play video games—something that he was pleasantly surprised to find Yami was very keen about watching—and a VCR rested on its top. It seemed mocking as he looked at it, as if it might burst out laughing and produce another tape for his companion to watch without permission. But he did not bother to even check it, instead turning his full attention back to the taller teen. He was not someone to leave evidence like that behind. He was having far too much fun messing with him at that moment to leave it around for him to find that easily.

"Correct. I did find your little stash," he chuckled, purring sultrily and smirking twice as wide, showing off each tooth as his eyes smoldered with laughter. He leaned against the mattress lazily, shifting only enough to angle his body to press his shoulder blade against the headboard as Yugi watched him. "I have to say I have had my horizons _expanded._ I was not aware that you and your friend were so terribly…ah, what's the word? _Kinky?_ Is that it? Judging by that blush, I'll assume that I am correct."

Yugi opened his mouth to protest, entire face burning as if it might burst into flames, but the other boy bulldozed him once more.

"Ever think about doing that with Tea?"

"Ew. No. First of all, Tea is a _proper_ girl and second, I'm pretty sure some of that has to be edited…or…Oh fucking god, I hope it is," he stated with a roll of his eyes. He had started off strong but had fallen into a soft, weak whisper as the statement continued to leave his lips. Flushed once more, he ducked his head and hurried for his desk. It was the only place that he could think Yami might hide them—considering that was where he often put them anyways. In order to avoid moving them and allowing him to notice, he would use his own hiding places to his advantages and laugh in mocking amusement when he grew more flustered. He shuddered at the thought that it was real, suddenly unable to push it away, and then ducked his head further when Yami snickered from his spot leaning against the headboard.

"What if I told you it was _all_ natural?"

Yugi spun on him with his mouth hanging open. "Oh my god, you've had sex before?" he blurted out, unable to stop himself and then blushing furiously at the statement. His voice had grown higher in pitch and his face felt strange where his lips had tugged into a grimace. What god in mythology _hadn't_ turned human and had sex before? He didn't think he knew of any of them but the virgin goddesses.

The other teen scoffed loudly and wrinkled his nose with a sneer on his face. "You disgust me. But that look on your face was worth the comment," he stated simply, smirking widely once more and leaning forward only slightly. The left side of his mouth pulled open a bit more, showing off his canine, and Yugi nearly trembled as he looked at him slowly. "But I noticed something, little game. You're quite into the bondage—"

"They're all Joey's!" he squeaked pathetically, mortified by the falsetto tone before he turned his head away again to dig through some of his papers in his search for the stupid tapes. "I just borrowed them."

"Right." Yami shook his head and then took a seat on the bed. He watched him as Yugi glanced up at the sound of the springs squeaking. The other teen moved to draw his limbs together, crossing his legs and putting his hands in his lap, eyes full of interest that oddly made Yugi feel a little warmer inside. Was he curious about him? Had he finally gotten his attention? "Because I am sure he is not trying to find a special series of videos specifically for you."

The other teen froze in shock at the statement. Curiously, he found himself blinking and frowning as he tilted his head in wonder.

"Huh?"

"You mean to tell me that you have failed to notice?"

"Uh…notice what?"

"All of the girls on the screen—brown hair, big blue eyes, wide hips and large breasts…"

"…A brunette?" Yugi asked obliviously.

Yami got to his feet with a furious expression, eyes sparking with anger for a split second. Abruptly, however, his attitude changed and he merely moved to his side with a lazy pace. He sighed loudly and then pulled the bottom drawer open. Yugi watched as his slender fingers moved to lift away some pages of his homework to show off the shiny cover of the dark gray tapes for his inspection. Yugi sighed in obvious relief and then went to thank him for finally putting him out of his misery, but went rigid when he whispered, "_Tea_" in a sultry purr in his ear.

He blinked, lowering his eyes back to the tapes, and then slowly glanced at him once more. Yami merely watched him as the smaller teen turned to look at the tapes with an excruciatingly slow movement. His eyes widened drastically before he gaped, startled by his statement, and then groaned and pressed his forehead against his desktop. "Oh my god," he mumbled pathetically, pushing the drawer shut with his foot and shaking his head slowly. "Oh my fucking _god."_

"Yeah, you're a little oblivious, aren't you, Yugi?" the red-eyed teen snickered into his ear with a wide smirk. Yugi turned his head and looked at him for a moment, really studying the way his eyes flashed violently. His lips were pulled into a wider, almost sinister smirk but his jaw looked uncomfortably set as if he were biting away a furious snarl of frustration. "Your little blond friend has been giving you all tapes of brunette girls with wide blue eyes that look distinctly like Tea. Same haircut. Same facial structure. Just that she's as pale as a rat's _ass_ and these girls actually have some kind of pigmentation to their skin."

Yugi snickered but shook his head, amused once more by the unapologetic nature the other exhibited so easily. His eyes were still flashing, however, and he still seemed furious, yet all he could find himself doing was laughing more. Was he jealous?

"Jealous? You pathetic human. Fuck you. What do I have need to be jealous of? Girls you have no chance with being your form of entertainment? Bullshit, foolish little game."

"Except that, according to you, I _do_ have a chance with them. Because Tea looks like all of them…right?"

Yami's shoulders rose a small fraction, his body stiffened drastically as if he were bracing himself for a fight. Yugi thought that he might lash out for a split second but the other teen merely leaned closer to lower his face so that they were level, sneering, "She's a prude. You would never be able to convince her to drop her panties for you" in a low, smooth, scornful tone.

"Probably not," he agreed after a moment, not truly caring for the idea in the first place as their gazes remained locked, burning into each other. "She's not nearly as desperate to get in my pants as say…a certain red-eyed boy who goes by the name Yami."

"_Desperate_?" Yami scoffed with a mocking laugh, bitter and furious. "For sex with _you_? No. I am desperate for the freedom you cheated me of. I want it and I crave it. And your body seems to be the only way that I can receive it."

"_Right_," Yugi stated, smirking slightly and shaking his head. He moved a little closer so that their noses brushed and his breath beat over his skin in a way that made his heart pound furiously. He ignored the thrill that ran through him at the contact, however, and the chill of the other's body made every nerve ending in his body tingle with pleasure. "Too damn bad you will never get that, will you?"

"This plan is already failing," Yami snapped, curling his lip back and glaring at him furiously. He snarled low in his throat before shaking his head and scowling at him. "It is only a matter of time before you admit that."

"Funny. I think it's going well. You aren't cursing as much."

"I have learned how hideously amusing you find it when my voice lilts to make those words. I don't want you laughing. I want you writhing beneath me so that I can leave here without feeling inexplicably, _pathetically_ drawn to you any longer."

"Cute, but we both know you're just desperate for some fun time with me."

"You disgust me."

"Yeah, so you say."

"I hate you."

"Mm_hmm_."

"I wish I could kill you."

Yugi smiled in amusement and shook his head before reaching up to grab the back of his head, grasping at the nape of his neck with his fingers. Yami stiffened and snarled, startled by the action, and breathed roughly as if he expected him to punish him for the response. It was something that he had been saying for a little while now, so he honestly did not understand such a reaction, but either way, he ignored it in favor of moving his mouth to his. The taller teen blinked, frozen in place, and paused for a moment before his hand moved to grasp his shirt tightly near where his bellybutton rested. Yugi shivered at the slight draw of the cloth, bringing him forward a miniscule step until they were practically pressed together.

It was hardly anything that Yugi would ever really call romantic, lacking the softness that came with such moments in relationships. It was not hard either, however, and somehow it lingered in a place between where it was firm yet loose all at once. He turned his hips to face the other teen's, brushing against him without much thought to the action. He could _taste_ the other's mounting impatience, feel it in the way he leaned forward and pushed his spine into a gentle arch. He moved his free hand to his back, running his nails over his spine through his shirt and listening to the moans it brought forth.

Yugi felt it between them with such immensity it made his head spin. It was like gasoline and fire, waiting for a single spark, the smallest flicker of a tiny flame. His insides twisted and pushed, begging for more, for far more than he could stand to give at the moment. He knew Yami felt it as well, lurking beneath their skin, deep in their souls, begging for them to be unified and become one.

It was heavy, intoxicating even, and drew them closer than they should have been. It made Yami lean forward and Yugi arch further back. It had Yugi moaning into his mouth and Yami sinking his nails into his back over the center of his curved spine. Little sparks of pleasurable pain burst forth beneath his skin, burning and itching, and the noise became louder, more powerful.

He was not sure whether to be ecstatic due to some of the release of tension in his body or horrified by it. The way that his skin seemed to grow warm and his consciousness circulated around the taller boy to make him his axis made his entire body quiver. He hesitated for a moment, curious, and then wondered for a split second if perhaps he should be shaken by the idea that this seemed to swallow away his choices. For the first time, he almost felt sick to his stomach with doubt and that made him a little flustered, frustrated by it all.

Yami snarled softly into his mouth when he rubbed against him again, arching his hips to press their pelvises together firmly. He moved to lift his leg just enough to brush his knee against the other boy's hip, purring at the delicious friction that swallowed his senses immediately after. The taller moaned a little noise like surprise and pure bliss. Yugi whimpered pathetically in the back of his throat. He was lightheaded as the taller teen's mouth worked against his and his tongue stroked his in a way that made him all but pant like a dog.

He shivered, wild with adrenaline, moaning and yelping when he suddenly lost balance. Laughter spilled into his head, Yami mocking him playfully as he clipped his shoulder against the unit of drawers that made up more of his school materials. The desk's books rattled softly, shaking gently, and he tore his mouth away just enough to look up, breathing roughly and staring blankly for a moment. Yami's mouth moved to his throat, not sucking as his lips latched to his smooth skin. He licked and nipped gently instead, with such softness, that he found himself shaking with the light touches.

He gasped and gripped at his hair tighter. He tugged harshly once, making Yami snarl softly. His tongue pressed firmly against his clavicle, tickling him as it vibrated. He tugged on his hair again, the strands cool but somehow warm at the same time as they were held within his palm. His fingers shifted and trailed down to the nape of his soft hair, digging his fingers into his skin and whimpering around a lick to his pulse. The muscle dragged softly and slowly, slightly cold at first but rapidly warming to the point that he could not help but melt against it. He moved instinctually to expose more of the pale skin, breathing raggedly and staring through lidded eyes as he arched further into his hips.

Yami pressed into his hand without thought or restraint, the action entirely instinctual. He pushed further into his palm, welcoming the warmth though it came with a slightly clammy sensation as Yugi breathed hard in his ear. His eyes fluttered and he whimpered with approval, swallowing hard, and impulsively ran his tongue over his lips. The smaller boy's fingers tugged at his hair again. He wondered somewhere in the back of his mind if Yami realized just how possessively intimate the action truly was, what he was really giving him permission to do with his own reactions.

Yugi was pretty sure he should have told him to stop but he was melting into the gentle nips, the way his teeth worked so softly against his skin. His nose pressed into the flesh beneath his jaw, just enough that it was firm and gentle all at once. He was half-drowned in the sensation of Yami's hips as the taller boy ground against him roughly, nipping his jaw and licking at his flesh.

He closed his eyes and moaned, letting the noise leave him a little too loudly, earning a soft snicker. "Hush, little game. Your mother is still home," Yami laughed in his ear, voice like trickling water and light with amusement.

Yugi opened his eyes into thin slits, looking up at him for a moment through his lashes. He swallowed back laughter at the very idea of caring about what his mother did or didn't hear. He would gladly fuck him into the mattress whether his mom decided to poke her head in or not. And that begged the question of why they had not started to do that.

He blinked a few times and then looked at him for a long moment. His lips pulled back into a wry smirk of amusement and the thought crossed his mind that Yami did have a few small limits. He tugged on his hair again gently. The taller teen pressed back into his palm almost like a purring cat awaiting more affection or a dog begging to have his belly scratched.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he thought he should stop them before it had a chance to go any farther. He did not think allowing the sexual tension between them to grow was a good idea by any means in all reality. Yami was not going to go that far either, he knew without question. For whatever reason he had set boundaries—perhaps because of their agreement or just because he did not really want to—and Yugi was relieved. The disappointment came quickly afterwards, his head spinning with the fierce onslaught.

This entire situation was so surreal, to the point that it felt as if it had been dictated by the gods. But which gods might have done that kind of thing? Was Yami included among them as well? Regardless of which gods had cast the dice, who was he to try to spurn it?

He already knew that he was wrapped around the other teen in ways that made soul mates and the purest of loves look fake. It was obsessive, maniacal, and immensely dangerous and it made no sense but it was part of him. It was engraved in his bones, breathed when his lungs expanded, spread when his heart beat, flexed with his skin. It was primal and feral and it—despite everything—was the very thing that Yugi thought his core existed for. It was something he would have never considered, but the only thing that he thought his existence might be meant for.

That had to be the most terrifying thing he had ever considered, but it was the truest sense of reality he had seemed to grasp upon. He was meant to exist for Yami, but he questioned if perhaps it was the same for him. If he was put in this body, dragged out of his world through the Puzzle and to him, for this reason.

Dictated by the gods…

But which ones?

* * *

"The Millennium Puzzle is known as the Puzzle of the gods," Yugi remembered his grandpa telling him once when he was nine. He tapped his pencil against the desk, closing his eyes tightly as he thought it over. It was the year that he had first begun to truly play with the pieces, when he had been unable to put it away for even a second. He had spent a year looking at it, keeping it safe in his room and having it as his treasure, and the next year he had spent time trying to familiarize himself with the pieces… "It was supposed to have been given to the pharaohs throughout the ages, but I can't find stories with it in it. Aside from being found in the tomb like it was, there isn't really much to be said about it in ancient Egypt."

_Whose tomb_?

If he could maybe figure that out, did that mean he could find the truth of Yami's identity and purpose before he had dragged him through from that other world? Or was that impossible now? Was it simply a dream that could not be chased?

Even if it was, he still wanted to know if Yami was a god like he claimed. Revered like a god or not, obviously he had to have power to be able to do such things as he had. It was not human to be able to do those things and he insisted he was not a mere shadow like Yugi had originally labeled him.

He certainly held himself like one, regal and proud, but his arrogance made him a little questionable. His will to spill blood so easily and without second thought countered that argument, however. Most gods were well known for their terrible punishments and wars to be fought, for pettiness and competitions that were hideous for those who partook in them. There were the Greek, the Roman, and he was almost certain the Egyptian gods fell in that same category. He knew of Horus, Set and Osiris, but beyond that his knowledge of Egyptian mythology was severely limited.

But it could have been possible that Yami was simply a victim of circumstance. He might not have even been Egyptian. Hell, he might really not be human in the first place. If he was truly a god, what the fuck did that make him? He had technically captured him in the Puzzle while putting it together, had drawn him into this world. He had nearly died several times, had he not? And yet he had still managed to somehow pull himself from death's door. He was trapped in a human vessel that was…oddly like his own.

And Yami refused to tell him _why_ that was.

Every time he asked, he was given the answer "Figure it out yourself, Yugi. By the gods, are you so incompetent that you can't work it out yourself?"

After he had been given that same response for two whole weeks, he had given up even the attempt to talk to him about it. Instead he had begun to focus rather obsessively on it in his spare time during lunch. With all of the loose ends that seemed to cut through his knowledge of the other boy, he could not think of much more than finding answers. Even while amongst his friends, he was unable to put it away to enjoy time with them at the arcade like they were now.

"You really thought Yugi and I were having fun times under the sheets?" Mai snorted, laughing and glancing at the small teen. Yugi was barely paying attention to their conversation, the noise filtering in through one ear and drifting out the other without much recognition. He was still horribly preoccupied with his little "god" while playing with the controls on the game in front of him. "Oh my god, Joey, Yugi is my cousin!"

That got his attention just enough to make him glance over. He watched his blond best friend spit soda across the floor where it seemed to reach so far as to hit a girl several feet away from them. Tristan choked on a handful of popcorn that he had been digging from the bag he had purchased minutes before. Tea was frozen in place near his shoulder, eyes wide as she stared at the two cousins for a split second. Mai wrapped her arms around his shoulders and squeezed once gently, but Yugi merely gave them a distracted smile as his mind raced once more with thoughts of Yami.

"My _baby_ cousin and you thought we were screwing," the blonde laughed, delighted with the reactions she had gotten from the group. None of them had realized due to their somewhat strained relationship. Yugi had not spent much time with her, but he spoke to her often on the phone, but they had not done much to be around each other at school or outside of it. Maybe he would have assumed it would be a good laugh for him if it had not been for a splash of ice that swept through his insides.

Ice crept along the inside of his skull, cooling his brain as if power were flooding through him. Stabs at his subconscious made him freeze in place, and he recognized that the emotion behind it all was questioning but brutally aggressive as well.

"Yami?" he muttered under his breath, looking around and sitting up straighter. He glanced at Joey and offered a swift apology when he threatened to give him a wedgie for not telling him. Mai jumped to his defense around laughter, Tea looked surprisingly relieved, and Tristan chuckled awkwardly at the revelation.

He did not see what was honestly so surprising when it came down to it. Mai was a lot taller, but she was also two years older. They shared the forelock and the exotic violet shades to their eyes. They both had that straight posture that they fell into automatically. He honestly did not know what was so surprising to them.

_Yami_?

He could feel him but he couldn't see him.

Yugi sat up straighter, eyes flashing hurriedly throughout the group of other people within the arcade. There was no sense of recognition that burst through him as it might have the moment he looked at him. He didn't catch a glimpse of lively red eyes. He didn't see spiky hair similar to his own. He could not find his thin frame among others.

Yugi twisted around with such speed that he nearly toppled over. Mai jerked from where she was still gripping his shoulders. She nearly fell with the movement but somehow managed to hold her balance. But Yugi hardly noticed as his eyes widened and his mouth felt as if it might burst with the grin that claimed it. The red-eyed boy was walking through the door, merely casting a small sideways glance at Vivian and Kaoruko as they said something or other to him. His head tilted slightly as the redhead reached up to grab one of his bangs between her fingers and twirl it.

His look-alike gave them another small nod, merely watching with glittering red eyes. The fluorescent light made his skin paler, his eyes almost like peaks of painted glass. He tilted his head again as Yugi watched, and Vivian said something with a sultry grin that made Yami pull his lips back into a slow, wide smirk. His face twisted cruelly, his expression predatory and almost hungry, and when he leaned forward, whispering, both of them grew wide-eyed. The color drained from both of their faces, and Yugi thought he could see them visibly gulp as they stepped back before fleeing with rapid backward glances at him.

Yugi snorted in amusement as he waved after them. His expression was nothing short of a sneer, and his lips remained pulled enough to show off his canines. His eyes were glowing with humor, and his stance grew more regal as he turned away to face their little group again.

He had not realized the others had turned to see what had gathered his attention so firmly. Their eyes were wide, staring in shock, and all of them faced Yami as if they were a pack of animals watching a human approach. He thought vaguely that perhaps this was what it looked like when humans stared upon a deity given flesh.

"Dude, isn't that…?"

Yugi glanced at Joey sideways, frowning as he threw himself off his stool. He slipped out of Mai's loosened grip without effort, not bothering to grace them with a look as he started forward. "Yeah, uh, I asked him to come here. I needed to talk to him about something," he lied, starting forward. He was about to get a small pace away from them when his arm was grasped in a vice grip. He squirmed and his stomach dropped, realization making his mouth grow dry. He tilted his head, giving Yami a firm look not to react to it, and then turned to face his best friend with a frown.

"No. I can't let my best buddy go over there and have that monster—"

"Don't call him that," he spat before he could think it through. The response was so automatic that he did not even pause as he glared at his friend angrily. Joey gave him a shocked look but then shook his head and narrowed his eyes in irritation at his rebuttal. "Seriously, Yami isn't going to hurt me. Just…give me a few minutes alone with him, okay? I just want to talk to him."

The air turned cold and harsh when the red-eyed teen got within ten feet of their small group. Joey froze but his head snapped towards him, eyes wide and then narrow, his jaw clenching as he glared. Tristan shifted awkwardly and ducked his head, eyes darting towards the floor as if he were a scared animal. Tea sat straighter, eyes wide and wild, staring at the newcomer as if she might be able to see through him. Mai stared at him with a confused and startled expression, unnerved by the reaction the others were giving the red-eyed teen. The blond gripped Yugi a little tighter, squeezing his arm, and he nearly winced as Yami slowly raised a brow in challenge so direct that no one could ignore it.

He twisted and stumbled, nearly spinning with the force it took to pull his arm out of Joey's grip. Then he hurried forward to push at Yami's chest, hoping to make him lose some of the tension in his muscles. Thankfully his reaction made his attention fall on him and peel away from the blond completely, eyes peering at him intensely as if he were insane to even think to attempt doing so. But eventually the other boy backed up a step as he wanted.

"Five minutes."

"Twenty at _least_," Yami drawled, a snicker creeping into his voice while Yugi shook his head and rolled his eyes. He didn't remove his hands from the other boy's shoulders, however, and his expression remained somewhat frantic despite the calm that seemed to radiate from the red-eyed teen.

"Five—"

"Twenty."

"Ten."

"Twenty."

"Do you not know how to negotiate?"

"Nonnegotiable. Twenty minutes."

"Goddamn it, Yami," he cursed under his breath, though both of them heard and appreciated the laughter there. He grabbed his arm gently, leading him along towards the door again, and the other boy allowed him to with a lazy pace a step behind him. His eyes wandered and flickered about, dancing beneath the fluorescents when Yugi glanced at him sideways. But he could hear the blonde girl—Yugi's cousin, whatever that meant—muttering under her breath that he was hot. And he nearly howled with laughter when the brown-haired boy awkwardly pointed out the obvious resemblance between her cousin and the god beside him.

He was laughing softly when they were a few feet from the doors. He snickered, smirking lopsidedly, and imagined the mortified expression that might cross the bodacious girl's face.

"So, what's up?" Yugi asked, spinning around to face him and giving him a relieved and slightly grateful look. His eyes were somewhat warm, something that disturbed the other boy, making his smirk fall, but he was more curious as he continued. "I wasn't expecting you to be here."

"I wasn't expecting to come here either," he snorted softly, the admittance making his insides turn. He liked being able to say he had done things by plans, that he always had his keen mind filled with decisions and never hesitated to put them to action. Being unable to say so now made his stomach clench and twist. He did not enjoy the thought of even stepping foot there, let alone without a plan, and even considering it made him want to curl his lip back in frustration. He leaned forward, and both of them were mere inches apart now, his voice lowered into a soft purr that made his spine tingle as if someone had just lit a spark through his nerves. He swore his body burned and his heart began to race as the other's fingers gently touched his sleeve, the action so gossamer that it felt almost nonexistent. He swore the spot where Yami had pressed his nails into his skin the day before now throbbed and burned for a single second. It passed immediately, however, and he blinked at him as he relaxed again slowly. "But we needed to talk and I could not risk waiting."

"Okay, so what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong exactly. I'm just tired of you fighting me on this. Can we just get it over with or do we have to continue playing this pathetic game of merely being around each other?"

"You really suck at being patient, don't you?" he teased, though he knew that the other wasn't playing around and was far from amused with his response. Yugi chewed his cheek hard and shook his head after a moment. "No, we're not going to do that. Especially not here. Are you insane? Sex in front of a fucking arcade?"

"Who said anything about here? It would be easy for you to make an excuse and go back home—"

"_No_," he repeated, forcing it to come out firm where his resolve seemed shaky and weak at best. His head felt light and fuzzy and his mind burned as he struggled to think straight for a moment. He could not understand the emotion that swept through him nor the pain that burst through each of his nerve endings. A dizziness crept over his senses for a split second and he recognized immediately that he was not truly comfortable with the subject. The very thought made his heart pound and his stomach twist and his hands felt clammy. He wasn't ready for that, not in the least, despite how much he had wanted to only the day before. "Listen, Yami, here's what's going to happen. You're going to go back to the house and—"

Yami ignored him pointedly and hissed, "Are you truly trying to dictate my actions, Yugi? _Surely_ you know better, yes?"

Yugi frowned and shook his head again slowly. "I didn't mean for it to sound like that. I meant that I…No. Just _please_ go back to the house and I'll talk to you there."

"Right. How about no?"

"I won't have sex with you here. Especially not now. Hell, how about never?"

"I don't need sex. Just a few minutes of time."

"I don't want you doing that."

Yami blinked and his expression morphed within his eyes. Bright flickering bursts of emotion made his gaze burn like flame and Yugi flinched as he recognized the intense hatred that rested there. He swallowed hard, unable to hide it as his heart began to pound violently within his ribs, to the point that he would not have been surprised if it almost sounded as if he were purring. He had been the one to initiate the kiss in his room, had allowed him to continue past that, had let them fall over and grind their hips so harshly. He had not argued when Yami had nipped and licked and ground against him until he was nearly sobbing with excitement.

This was mostly—if not completely—his fault. He had led him on and Yami was anxious and wasn't about to even _bother_ hiding it any longer. He wouldn't push him like he might have wished to, but he was going to argue tooth and nail at this rate. He would defend himself, his need for Yugi's energy.

He shivered and looked at him for a moment, chewing his cheek and debating. How bad would it really be just to let him…do _that_ again? His cheeks lit up in a blush for a split second at the idea but his stomach coiled with excited friction. A small trickle of fear swept through him, however, and he thought momentarily that he could not force himself to voice the idea altogether. Besides, he needed a little tension released as well; since yesterday, he had gotten just as antsy and impatient as he was in all reality. Maybe just a little release for the both of them would be okay…?

"You can…um…you know…"

"Jerk you off?" Yami asked snidely, giving him a look that said he had better repeat it or he wasn't going to touch him. The smaller teen glowered for a split second, blushing harder with humiliation at the thought of putting it into words, and then finally nodded.

"Y-yeah. Um, you can…jerk me off but past that no more, okay?"

The other nodded shortly. "Good. That's all I actually needed in the first place."

"Why, uh…sexual energy anyways?" Yugi commented weakly, licking his lips and swallowing hard as Yami glanced around once and led him a little further away. He swore that he felt the temperature around him drop by several degrees, colder than he had ever experienced, and the noises around him drifted into nonexistence. There was only a white noise, a gentle buzzing, in his ears, and he watched as several people walked past them slowly. They all bunched up their coats slightly, trying to stay warm, and somehow each of them unconsciously gave them a few inches of space as they walked around them.

"Sex is the most strenuous activity one can put their body through. When done, their energy spikes at first and then drops again. I just need enough energy to stop me from feeling this burn under my skin. This is simple enough, don't you think?"

"Please stop sneering," he commented quietly, reaching out to grab his jacket and move his other hand to his hair. He gripped them both weakly, swallowing thickly, and then lowered his eyes slightly before licking his lips in a somewhat nervous nature. "I like it better when your voice _doesn't_ make me feel like shit."

"Do you think I care?" Yami asked, a response that was born from instinct rather than thought. The smaller boy made a small noise in the back of his throat, ashamed with his own reluctance from moments before, but it was swamped almost immediately. The other boy moved a little closer, his cool body heat giving him nothing but a simple chill as he breathed out a soft heated white puff of air. He didn't hesitate, his hand moving to his waistband and then slipping beneath it to cup him. "Sorry."

Yugi felt his eyes snap wide open in surprise at the apology. It was mumbled irritably but it did not lack sincerity. Yami didn't look at him, instead licking his lips and purring deeply in his throat before moving closer to him. His free hand grasped tightly at his shirt and his wrist twisted to pull him roughly forward so that they were flush against each other. His hips ached where their bones clashed and Yugi felt as if his head were spinning with the intensity of the emotions that crashed through him. The smaller boy shivered after a moment, letting out a gentle moan, and breathed out roughly once as they stared at each other.

He felt…_different_. It was good, extremely so, but it left him blinking in confusion and struggling to understand fully. He felt a little warmer, as if it lingered under his skin rather than being completely cold at first touch. It was not abundant, but it was still there. And he found himself craving it but also a little concerned by it.

Did this actually mean it was working or was it just some kind of trick?

Yami snorted softly in his ear. It was something akin a laugh as he muttered, "Couldn't you stop thinking so hard for five minutes? I asked for twenty minutes, not hours. For fuck's sake, Yugi."

He swallowed away a startled laugh, not even sure he knew how to respond to that, and instead moved to rub his cheek against his hair. He buried his nose into the soft strands and shivered at that smell that Yami possessed, completely strange and unique. It was so beautiful and complex that it was somehow frightening. Ice and chilled moonlight, hidden in that undertone of ever-present darkness.

The scent threw him over more than Yami's hand, the other boy a little startled by the stickiness that coated his hand as he went to pump again. His movements stopped immediately, confused. He wrinkled his nose and pulled back some, slowly raising a brow in a manner that made the other blush in response once more.

"Um…sorry…?" he muttered awkwardly, pursing his lips and chewing his cheek uncomfortably. His face felt awkward, his cheeks heavy with the heat from his blood, and his stomach twisted.

"For what? That was the whole _point_ of my hand being down your pants, right?" he scoffed, tone somewhat teasing. His eyes were extremely confused, however, and he peered at him blankly for several long moments before pulling his hand away again.

"Um…no warning…?" he justified quietly, voice weak, as he blushed and cringed once more at his own statement. He was pretty sure no one gave a warning about that kind of thing unless it was an actual blowjob. Then it was simply a question of whether they would finish or just leave it alone.

Yami's eyebrows shot up before he burst out laughing, shaking his head. "Are you fucking kidding me?" he snorted, smirking widely and staring at him. "It was sudden, yes, but I am not complaining."

Yugi blinked once and went to open his mouth again but found himself growing shocked as the other boy went about doing something unfamiliar to them both. He had begun to clean him off with his other hand, pulling his boxers up again and zipping his pants once more. "Um…t-thank you?"

He snorted again, laughing out loud for a split second, and then vanished in a small bit of red lightning. His ears crackled for a long second, the noise completely gone before he could even think straight. Yugi glanced around and purred softly in the back of his throat, the very noise that he had suppressed so dutifully while his nose had been buried in Yami's hair. Sound started to come back in short, muted bursts as if his magic lingered a little longer than the other boy's physical presence. Then, finally, it came to him fully, as it should have been, and he reluctantly headed back inside of the arcade.

"Dude, you okay?" Joey asked immediately, practically leaping forward. Mai caught his arm to restrain him, shaking her head, and Yugi blinked in surprise at their responses to his return. He was vaguely curious as to why his cousin did not seem as alarmed as Joey but then dismissed it. She had never been one to overreact and the blond was hotheaded and did not like to change his thoughts when it came to such things.

He cast them a small smile, ignoring the pull in his gut as he murmured, "Safe and sound. Told you he wouldn't hurt me."

But the more he walked towards them, the lighter his head felt and the more disoriented his mind became. He thought it was similar to something like having cotton in his skull, or his senses being filtered slowly but surely with weak efficiency. It was hard trying to work with such a sensation as he went back to playing his game and Joey continued asking him about Yami. Yugi had the urge to roll his eyes the third time the blond asked if he was_ one hundred percent_ sure that he wasn't going to hurt him at some point. And he spent the rest of the day wishing he could shut him up, stumbling and feeling disconnected with his own thoughts.

He was halfway home when it finally crossed his mind what his senses might have been hinting so keenly towards. He was rounding the corner, thinking about homework for a single second even though he was easily being taken down that path to Yami all over again, and then it hit him. All those times that Yami had been playing cards by himself or teasing him, talking, in general just studying him like he did him or getting immersed in watching him play video games, he had been restless. He had already known that. It was impossible by any means not to see that even with only a brief glance at him.

Yami was openly restless. With himself, with Yugi. For a moment, he honestly questioned if it was a good idea to go home so soon after their little moment outside of the arcade. But he knew without question, somewhere deep within his gut, that the red-eyed teen would never actually _force_ him. He had proven that several times by turning away when he pushed him or stopping while they were on the floor, when he had his real chance at actually seducing him, and especially in the street. He could have simply shoved his hand down his pants again like he had at the hospital but he was not sure his reasoning. It might have simply been because he worried that taking him against his will would not give him the same amount of energy that it would if it was completely voluntary. He might have been that he was learning boundaries as well—no matter how big or small they might be—about what he should and shouldn't do.

The only problem he had with the latter thought was that of the disbelief that came across his mind each time he considered it. He couldn't honestly picture Yami to be the kind of creature to throw him to the floor and force himself on him against his will. He thought that the act of getting him off quickly would give him more energy, sustain him for long enough that he wouldn't have to come back immediately, and it had. He had done the only thing he thought he had the power to do in order to survive, hadn't truly had a line that he knew of or contemplated crossing, and the goal had been infrequent visits to stabilize the new body he had. It had not been to hurt him—though he had made it clear more than once what he wished he could do with him—which might have been why it had never felt like sexual assault.

But, as he walked inside, Yugi knew without thought that the other teen was long gone. His aura, as powerful and dangerous as it was, no longer blanketed the house like a security blanket. Yami had gone off somewhere, probably to blow off steam or wander around. He needed something to do, as Yugi was beginning to realize, just something.

Yugi tried to think of a single time in his life when he hadn't had a purpose. He had been part of a family of four that had money problems, struggling constantly to keep their heads up until his dad got that job overseas. He still had to sometimes deal with the late night arguments between his mother and grandfather over his slight dislike for his dad. He had played mediator ever since he was born, unknowingly at first and then brutally aware of his role as he had grown older. He was his grandpa's helper around the house and especially in the shop, going as far as to not require payment for tasks, content with being tiny and taking little space. He was a teenager who went to school, had friends, worked with his grandpa, helped around the house, and now he was working on trying to help Yami. But that was just the problem, wasn't it?

He was so _many_ things and Yami was none of them.

He was—_possibly_—his friend and maybe even a god if that wasn't just his ego talking. But the rest was pretty much unknown territory and Yami had nothing to think of as a reason to stay. He didn't try to find something to keep him preoccupied with his life because he technically didn't _have_ one.

And he had to know he was actually _needed_, was desperate to know that he had _reason_ for being there.

He trudged up the stairs.

Yami protected him not just because it would mean a wound for him if he didn't but because he felt needed in those moments. It was enough to make him extreme to the point of killing, but it was the only real reason he could find to be there. Because Yugi himself had said he didn't know why he was brought there, what had brought him there, and the other teen had nothing to offer either in explanation.

Yugi almost debated going out to look for him but stopped at the last second. He slipped into his room, casting a small glance back at the kitchen where he could hear his mom on the phone, that smile in her voice that said she was talking to his dad. He wanted that in his life, he really did, but he didn't think that would happen. He had Yami.

And Yami was a bundle of problems coated in a nature so ironically innocent yet vicious and terrible that it made it impossible for him to even consider him like that. No, he did not think that Yami would be someone who could possibly make him feel so in love that the very mention of them made him smile. But he thought—no, he knew—that he could be that person that made him feel whole where the others in his life failed.

He knew that there wouldn't _be_ others as far as partners went. Yami was going to be that for him. He knew it deep in his being, where that primal instinct stirred and curled inside of him as if in approval of the idea. There was no question about that much. He had it laid out before him and he wasn't really about to argue with it either. He couldn't picture another in his place. He could not think of a single person who might have the ability to complete him in the way that he knew Yami could.

But that wasn't love. It was so far from it that it made him want to laugh.

It was obsession, raw and cold and festering under his skin like a grudge, overpowering and leaving nothing to be shared with others. It was the selfish need to feel whole and have the red-eyed teen be his secret, his power, his death, his life. It wasn't some kind of romance. It was desperation and need and fire and ice and desire that ran as deep as the Nile and would never lessen.

It was in his soul and branded in his heart, seared into his mind.

It was never a question.

Part of Yami was here with him, even though the room was empty and bare of the other's presence. But even though he had left, Yami would know. It should have been a comfort for both of them, but Yugi honestly started to feel a little bit trapped. And the idea that it made him feel trapped made him realize that if it was so for him, then Yami had to suffer that tenfold. He had to feel so incredibly trapped and useless…

* * *

He had expected reactions to Yami's distance, but it hadn't been anything in the realm of this extreme. He was almost immobilized more often than not, as if he were growing paralyzed somewhere inside of him. It seemed wrong simply to even move around without him there and he wanted to stay frozen until the moment that he returned. Apparently he required far less contact than he had assumed now that they had spent so much time together like that. He had actually expected himself to go a little crazy, possibly, maybe become just as restless as the other boy, but he was all but crippled now. The disoriented and fractured mindset that had befallen him had grown to points that he was sure he would attract the attention of a police officer looking for an escaped mental patient. It was hard to keep his balance, as it seemed off kilter and weak, and he felt he must have lost something extremely vital.

Most times he felt that maybe he feared Yami would wind up dead and somehow it would not affect him as everything else had. Or maybe Yami might have already died and the effects of his passing were slow and torturous, setting in like a weak toxin. But that did not feel like the correct explanation either. He didn't feel _severed_ as he knew he would had something truly happened to the other boy.

It was ingrained, a tiny bit of knowledge that his mind constantly circulated back to and clung desperately upon. But he wanted him back. He wanted him back more than anything. After only a week of their separation, he was already succumbing to the urge to just stay completely still as if he were gripped by severe paralysis. And his mind was so ragged that the very thought of sleep failed to do more than tire him further, a useless and time-consuming action that benefited him none. Most of the time his sleep was dreamless, other times it was either lewd, filled with the two of them in bed, or nightmares that the other was out there dying within reach of him, begging for help.

Now was a dream in which a tongue passed over the side of his face in a small, rather tender stroke that was quickly succeeded by another. Kisses were soft and gentle along his neck, but small nips of his canines made him whimper in pleasure. Yami was caught between his legs, which wrapped around him like a vice, desperate to hold him there. The other was kissing and licking and he was pulling at his hair lightly, purring and whimpering like an animal in heat. Fingers caught in the soft strands, the other would hiss against his skin when his nails scraped his scalp, but the sensual actions had yet to cease at any rate.

But it was also, unfortunately, a dream where Yami refused to talk. And he would attempt to distract him from any idea of conversation with those sinful licks and kisses along his heated skin. He would mewl and fold beneath his will, and the deity would play him like a violin, never once letting up. But he would never go further, and Yugi would want to scream in frustration when he woke, because the hardness would kill him.

To further his irritation, he was almost one hundred percent sure that Yami had weaseled his way into his dreams and thus was _manipulating_ them. He did not know if it was because he did not want him to forget that he was still there, that though he might have left physically, the deal was still on. But he recognized that this was a dream he had forced on him because it was as eerily similar and familiar to him as the few times Yami had attempted to murder him in his sleep. He knew the signs as a cold breeze shifting beneath his skin or the atmosphere changing drastically. Sometimes he could be reliving a childhood memory and it might morph into him walking alone down a dark street only to be ambushed from behind. Then the dream would change again, drastic as the initial one, to perhaps something like a walk along the beach or playing with Tristan's dog, Lucky. It would happen in rapid succession, so swift that had he turned, he would have missed his attacker regardless.

The attacks had always been swift and efficient. Had they been centered in his consciousness, on the street in front of others, his neck would have been slashed. Sometimes his head would be forced so far that he thought if it were really happening it would snap from his neck and tumble off. Then there were the nails that raked down his sides, threatening to spill his guts, only to be stopped because of the pain that he knew the other must have felt each attempt. Another time his ribs might be broken from the impact with the wall, or his arm wrenched from its socket and himself thrown to the ground. Sometimes Yami didn't bother to change the scenery, just launched himself at him even when he clearly saw him. At times like that he looked like a wild animal, eyes flashing with malice, and he would find himself unable to so much as blink before they collided. Then he would be gone like a puff of air and the dream would continue as if it had never changed in the first place.

Yugi only woke with small reminiscences of his dreams, a dull ache on his arm or a bruise blooming on his hip, dizziness behind his eyes, a throbbing in the back of his skull. That had been the only true hint that Yami had wanted to kill him, but had instead spared him, acting as an animal trapped within a cage and circling the enclosure to test the weaknesses. He wanted nothing more than to see just where the lines blurred and grew reinforced, and clearly the results had formed firmly in Yugi's favor considering he was still alive.

Now he woke up like he always did when a dream of that caliber happened. He was horny, cranky, slightly embarrassed with his own eagerness, frustrated out of his mind with the situation they were in, and horrified by the pleased noises that still reached his ears. Then, he would blink, and the fear and worry would slam through him with such force it would knock the air clear from his lungs.

It took him a little longer to regain his bearings this time. His mind struggled to grasp at the insufficient remnants of his dream which faded so quickly that he felt dizzy with the sensation. For a split second he found himself merely blinking at the wall, startled and horrified by the very color, and then shook his head slightly. There had been something hideously wrong with the dream, disturbing in the way it left his chest feeling more hollow than usual.

He blinked and glanced about the room once more. What had disturbed him in the first place? Normally he would sleep until Yami hissed in his ear that he needed to wake up and subsequently, briskly, abandoned him without a second thought. But something had changed this time around, and he had no idea what it was as he reached up to run a hand through his bangs and sit up completely.

His back popped painfully and a small grunt left him before he could think to stop himself. When he drew in another breath, his lungs felt weak and strange, and the smell that greeted him was sickening. His head snapped to the side, towards the nightstand, and he peered at its surface for a moment as he tried to place what was amiss. The scattered images in his head were drifting like smoke, but a realization still pushed itself to the forefront of his mind—Yami had not gone as far as usual in the dream. He had not bothered to truly make out with him or grind against him, instead holding him at bay with little nips and kisses.

Yugi blinked and frowned, wondering at this realization, and thought that something in his room might have settled wrong. For a long moment his eyes felt glued as they stared almost blankly at the surface of the nightstand beside him. When he breathed in again, wary and exhausted, the smell of burned flesh failed to meet him, but he did think he could still catch something like forest and moonlight. Had Yami been there? The Puzzle had not been moved in the least, and it didn't explain why he had not gone as far as usual, sometimes taking pleasure in making him late and have to rush for school.

He could not feel anything even remotely like the burst of powerful energy the Puzzle had thrown at them that day. But something was still terribly off about the little artifact as he stared at it, a small but nagging bit of fear bubbling up in his stomach.

He sprang upwards, startled, and every hair on his body rose in a horrified bristle. His head snapped around, his breath coming out in a gasp, and he gaped blindly for a moment. The desk rattled and shook for a split second, vibrating, and the noise made him wince. The low thrumming made him groan behind his teeth before shaking his head and sighing as he reached out to smack his hand against the alarm clock as it chimed hideously. He hesitated for a moment, blinking, and felt the exhaustion course through him once more, unforgiving and frustrating. The sleepiness was gone from him immediately, but his limbs felt heavy even as everything seemed to be swallowed by alarm and a compulsive desire. He glanced out the window, excited now, and fully expected he might see Yami there against the glass, balanced perfectly even as he pulled it open and slipped inside. But there was nothing there to greet him aside from bright white, fluffy clouds waiting to dust Japan with virgin snow.

* * *

His skin split, painting him with blood and leaving his arm wet and dripping. His spine ached, throbbing with a dull but powerful pain, and the marrow in his bones boiled beneath his skin. He blinked and his eyes felt as if they might burst forth from his skull at any moment. His mind was on fire, blazing furiously, and his skin felt cold as he looked down again. Whatever conscience he might have possessed formerly had slipped away with an easy pull of breath. The fire in his mind burned, giving him the word of the status he had fallen upon, something so familiar to him that he wished he could embrace it and allow it to swallow him whole. Feral. Exactly what he _needed_.

All of it had become nothing more than one massive mess. But Yugi was needy and he needed too. However, he was all but certain the simplest thing was the only one he needed most—Yugi. He could not exactly say no when he was there, when he was giving him just as much reaction as he needed to have him push as far as Yami did in return. He needed him more than the other seemed to require him, but if he had meant to push at his most primal desire, he could not be sure he would turn away later.

The blood was pounding in his ear, a remnant of an ancient war drum and chants like broken voices and shattered screams, not his own, but that of the bastard in front of him. As he looked upon him, the organ rattled and quaked. It trembled where it had once been steady. He listened to it as it strained and seemed to become swallowed within his senses. His leg shot out as his insides curled with anger, and the blow sent the air from his lungs with a satisfying whistle of a gasp. He watched him as he curled onto his side, panting even as his blood seemed to scream, spilling from his lips as it choked him with each breath.

He thought his throat was raw by now. He'd been crying out for hours. How he had managed to do so for so long was beyond him. Perhaps he had given him too much room to writhe and scream and heal. But that would be stripped from him soon enough, though he knew—and he thought perhaps this pathetic human did too—that it was not over.

He was far from done with him.

His ribs broke as if they were made of chalk, crushed beneath his shoe as he stomped. He was gurgling and choking, drowning in blood, and his organs were beginning to shut down. Yami could hear them, almost as if they were humming with electricity as a bulb might when switched on. They pulsed softly with energy, stronger than average when he had first attacked, restored beyond a normal human's when he had decided to heal him somewhat. He had wanted it to be more painful than if the boy felt used to it. And one could grow used to the pain beneath their skin or mere flesh wounds. He himself had, and he thought if his broken body could do it, then so could a regular human.

He had even given him his eye back. It had not been hard to wipe the memory clean of the incident where his family was concerned. And his friends had been easily influenced by a mere brush of his aura against their minds. Humans were so incredibly weak-willed and easily fooled, and their bodies so powerless. What had formerly been little trills of life, given more strength than ever before, were now losing their unique tremors, growing still beneath his skin.

He supposed that internal bleeding could do that to one's body.

It was satisfying to watch him choke and cough dark red across the pavement. His lips curled back, sneering silently, and smoothed into a small smirk. The sight may have been enjoyable, but it did not fill the deeper ache of self-betrayal that burned within him. He had left Yugi behind after that little interaction at the arcade, gone back on his own commitment. And thus, he suffered for it.

But there was no true need for his presence so constantly bestowed upon the teen. With days spent between them, surviving through simple exposure to him, it had become something all-consuming and drastic between the both of them. Had he not held self-restraint for fear of repercussions, he could have easily fucked him on the floor then and there after that kiss. He would not have cared for his mother walking in on them, not even if she had pulled out a weapon on him. He had simply pulled away for the fear of his body being damaged in some way should he overstep. The Puzzle might have lashed out for all he knew, because, despite his willingness at that moment, he knew Yugi had not been truly ready. He would have regretted it later, and Yami was not sure of what might have happened had he persisted.

He stared down at him for a moment, purring softly in amusement. His eyes were cold, desolate, caught somewhere in the shadows, but his mind was racing even as the other boy's gaze reflected him.

He tilted his head. Where his lip should have stopped bleeding, been completely swollen but no longer painted such a bright red, it was still gushing. The teen beneath him was drowning in it once more. It coated his teeth and bubbled out with each breath. When he hacked, it came like water from a geyser. The red-eyed boy smirked widely in satisfaction, humming to himself softly.

His eyes were glowing where they were reflected there. They were the only bits of color, pupils blow wide and shot, black and empty, with mere ringlets. The rest of his reflection was almost nothing more than the shadows, twisting and writhing viciously like snakes.

This kind of punishment—retribution, he supposed—was ancient, stronger than the gods, older than the Puzzle, darker than anything in existence.

The Shadow Game had been fun while it had lasted, but he had dragged the Penalty Game out far longer. And now he could, subtly but surely, feel the effects of the trial helping to heal some kind of sore in his soul that he not even realized existed before that moment.

Watching the other boy, however, he thought maybe he had known of it at some time. After all, he did like to feel pain every now and then. Self-inflicted from the lack of his power being in use or not, it was more satisfying than even the warmth that came with Yugi's touch to his skin. It was more fulfilling than even that warmth which bled into the tiny space between them, where they overlapped and surged together. It felt all the more powerful than their minds and emotions and that deep, aching feral need resided inside of both of them.

Yami remained still, listening and watching. He blinked, drawing his eyes towards the blood on the ground, and tilted his head a little further. There, now he could hear it. His heart was growing weaker, beginning to give out. His will was not done, however, and so he could feel the magic that coiled in his veins, sparking across his nerve endings with energy so deep and primal that it brought forth a deep purr. The blood in his body was new, the cells growing to multiply and replace the old, and he did not bother to hide his contentment as his eyes fell into slits. The energy laced and mixed inside of him, voices drifting lifelessly through his mind where they had been formerly screaming and demanding he seek payment from his victim.

And yet, he had no reason to fear his passing from life prematurely. His heart would not stop until he allowed it.

The magic of the Penalty Game would keep him alive until he felt he was finished in all absoluteness. It would not allow Ushio to greet death until he was sure of his finality with the other teen, and it would keep his lungs and heart and liver alive just to spite the massive teen.

A small thought drifted through his mind, unbidden and strange. His head tipped upwards, and he drew in a deep breath, allowing it to settle in his lungs and swarm his senses fully. An awareness peeked somewhere in the back of his mind, as it had that day he had read of the contents in Yugi's room though the Japanese language was not something he had known beforehand. His eyes drifted over the clouds, and he wrinkled his nose slightly, puzzling over the scent that lingered in the air. It was frosty, but it held a quality that he could only describe as…_glass_.

His mind continuously circulated back to the word, refusing to allow him riddance of it. He tipped his head again, sniffed once more, and then blinked slowly. A million things sprang forth, some of which should not have had a scent but remained just beneath the surface of his consciousness, places that he reached but could not dwell on.

He turned his head back to Ushio abruptly.

Should he tear his heart from his chest? Crush his skull?

He did not know yet. He had not considered what end he might give him. He had beaten Yugi endlessly throughout the schooldays that they had crossed paths. The small boy had barely been able to walk most afternoons when school was over, and only fear of his return and the need to check on his grandpa had given him the strength to do so. Had Yugi been weaker, or had he not been so concerned for others over himself, he might have succumbed to the pain and simply lay there. Someone might have scraped his dead body from the schoolyard and been apologizing to his family that such a tragedy had happened.

Ushio was not to remain alive. He knew that. And he thought even the bastard knew that. The judgment had been passed by the Puzzle rather than him, but how he slaughtered him was always a question that amused him at the end of the day. Most of the time he at least liked to keep it…_pretty_, if nothing else.

Or ironic.

Beautiful in an ironic sense.

Blood could easily be smeared to paint pictures. Maybe he would use Ushio's and write something along the walls. Or perhaps he would draw across the boy's body and have a chuckle when it was found later. If he was feeling very creative, he might take his corpse and hang it from the school's flagpole for fun.

Yami tipped his head further to the side, listening to that weak but steady heartbeat that came with the other teenager's presence before him. He would have to find Yugi later, when the voices in his head had calmed from the strain they had been under from the smaller teen's constant proximity. Perhaps Yugi had been correct in saying that it had stabilized some of his more prominent emotions and the way that they rested too strongly beneath his skin. Perhaps he truly had quelled some of the disgustingly brutal influence they held over him and his unstable temperament. But he had been terribly wrong in his assumption that that was the only problem that existed for him. The core problem was that this new world he was stuck in was nothing more than a prison he wished to escape. The fact that Yugi had bound him to this place with a name, had bound him to _his side_ like some kind of pet, was an issue that he hated more than anything. He had not meant to. Yami knew that. He even accepted that.

But it failed to change anything.

Names were binding, held power like nothing else.

He may have been a god but he had given him a _name_ which more or less represented a precise and powerful ownership. Yugi had only named him to have _some_ kind of way to address him or speak of him without saying something generic or rude like "boy" as he had done to him. He understood that. He acknowledged it. He accepted it. Yugi respected people too much where he did not care if they wound up with their intestines spilled somewhere. Little children could see the sight and he would not bat an eye towards their distress.

But he should never have opened his mouth, named him…

His anger with the memory made his skin burn. Power, painting the edges of his vision black, weaved its way through his sight in cracked black lines, trailing along his veins like forks of dark lightning, and fractured the picture between his slit eyelids into tiny pieces.

* * *

Yugi stared at the stoplight for what felt like hours, willing it impatiently to change. He chewed at his cheek, teeth gouging into his skin and making it burn, and tried in vain to ignore the chitchat around him. For the last week Mai had begun to walk with them on their way to school in the mornings. The sight of her coming down the street that first morning had stunned him, because she rarely cared for walking, and she had always been about showing off her purple convertible. She had gotten it for her sixteenth birthday the year before and had never once considered walking to or from a place after she had gotten her license.

But he could not focus on that either. There was some deep, mind-eating, soul-devouring guilt that had taken residence within him. It ate away at every part of him, smothering his senses cruelly, and he struggled with the task of navigating it. Halfway through his morning ritual a thought had stumbled along the forefront of his mind, heavy and foreboding with such presence it seemed to make his heart burst.

And that was just that if Yami did not want to stay around him, then he would have to accept it. It was all the freedom he could give him now, if he had truly done what Yami claimed so viciously he had. And the other teen was too estranged and wild for him to think that he could possibly keep him where he did not want to be. And maybe that was—though it surely wasn't the only one—a reason they fought. Yugi was the one who was bred for being that simple, small sixteen-year-old boy while Yami had no _true_ restraints but the questionable lines that he drew himself in the dirt. Yami would not back down and Yugi was trying to make himself appear strong enough to be that threat Yami considered him. It was the only way he seemed to be able to hold the other's attention long enough to make him listen when he spoke. Yami was nothing short of passion personified, Yugi had come to realize. He needed the fight because he _thrived_ on it. He needed the predatory stance that existed when he was about to kill Ushio because it was just another version of a battle for him. But all of that passion was being wasted in hating him as he did. Yami could honestly do so much more if he were simply shown or really given the chance.

"Did you hear about that new game they're getting down at the arcade?" Joey prattled, drawing the others into conversation once more. Yugi clenched his jaw tightly for a single second, quick to dismiss it before anyone could notice. He didn't want to go to the arcade. For him, despite his own attempts at logic, the arcade seemed to be the center of every issue in his life at the moment. It had brought him Yami, it had also seemingly taken him away that day. Everything happened at the arcade, the place where they were supposed to go after school to blow off steam and settle down before they needed to get home and start homework.

On another day he might have lunged at the opportunity. He liked to play the new games—he always had—and he liked to beat any high scores. He enjoyed having his name shown in big block letters, pronouncing him the victor each time, but now he hardly felt even a stirring beyond anger at the mention of such a routine.

He had not gone since Yami had left. No one had mentioned it. No one had asked about Yami except when he came back. No one suggested going back. He thought maybe it was because they were all afraid the red-eyed teen would show up again. And he had not cared to even consider going there.

He felt a little bad for not talking to them about how he felt or that none of them actually seemed to completely notice. He knew that Joey was far more involved with Mai than anything at the moment, however, so absorbed in the task of making her his girlfriend that his sister could get kidnapped and he might not notice for days. Tea was more confused and upset, he knew, because of Yami's supposed past with Yugi and what she had seen him do in the alley, the arguments that they had had a while back. Tristan was busy all but pretending that Yami didn't exist and nothing was out of the ordinary and should it drift towards something wrong, he turned a blind eye. So Yugi was also not surprised that no one seemed to notice—or at least that it was never brought up. Only a couple of times had he been asked if he was okay because he had been too quiet. But no one asked if he was okay because he simply looked glum. It was kind of funny how things seemed to transpire within their group.

The stoplight turned, finally flashing, and Yugi started forward with the others. For a moment his eyes were glued to the other side of the street, and then something seemed to stir. He blinked, and for a second he thought his lashes were stuck together. A shape had taken form in the corner of his vision, and for a moment it was unrecognizable but quickly it sprang on him.

_Yami. _

He swore he saw that deep blue, distorted to a shade akin purple, of the uniform he was wearing, the flash of golden-bronze skin, the sharp red eyes and the spiky hair. But when his head turned and his mouth nearly pulled into a wide, excited grin, exuberant with the fact that he was okay, he found he wasn't there. Even as he looked all about them, swiftly to ensure the others didn't see him doing so, he found nothing.

"Are you okay?" Tea asked immediately as he hurried after them. A driver just barely resisted from blaring their horn at him as he sped to her side and he ignored the way that they shook their head at him angrily. For a moment he didn't recognize her voice or the fact that her attention was on him. He merely heard a voice with words that sounded vaguely familiar, and it took him a moment to realize who it was and what was being said. His head turned and he blinked, flashing her a small smile, going to say that he was fine, but again his lashes seemed to clump together, forming that unmistakable shape.

"Fuck," he cursed under his breath, blinking as he looked around again. His lips tugged into a firm frown, eyes flicking around as he scanned the area hurriedly for the other's presence. He could not feel him there, however, which should have been a very obvious clue to him that he was not there, but he was desperate. And he wanted to blame the lack of exposure to the other teen for his inability to sense him.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he murmured, turning back and smiling at her with a small nod. "I just…I guess I thought I saw something."

"Oh yeah? What did you think you saw?" she asked, friendly and reassuring but with a slightly concerned undertone that made him smile the smallest bit more. He could almost see thoughts turning, and he knew she was coming to the right conclusion.

"Just…I don't know. A shape in the corner of my eye."

"Oh, o—"

"Hey, how has that Yami guy been lately?" The use of his name made Yugi stop short for a split second, halting altogether. He blinked, turning his head to look at him in alarm, a tingle creeping down his spine in shock. Had he seen him too? But why would Yami bother to expose himself to the blond? He blinked again, alarmed even further, and wished he could turn and run back to his house, forget all about school. "I mean, he hasn't been giving you any trouble or anything, right? Nothing I need to beat the little bastard up for?"

Yugi let out a small laugh to calm his nerves. The adrenaline that had fluttered through his veins in that single second was dispelled immediately. "He's fine. I haven't seen him in a little while," he admitted, shrugging as if it might help to diffuse some of the tension that he knew the others felt at the very mention of his name. "I don't know, he's…he's Yami, I guess."

"Meaning?" Mai asked slowly, drawing the word out to get more of a clue of the statement's meaning. Her violet eyes narrowed faintly as she stared at her younger cousin and he felt sick to his stomach for a split second.

"Meaning he's just being a difficult little shit," he laughed, trying to sound playful. He thought he sounded disturbingly like a squeak toy, miserable and discarded and uncomfortable, but he didn't let it shake him as he continued. "He's just…being a little shit as always. I mean, he's not doing anything wrong—don't think that…He's just…he's being difficult. I just haven't seen him a little while, so it's…hard to say how or what he's actually been up to, you know?"

"Oh, okay then," his cousin muttered, sounding skeptical as her eyes raked over his form slowly as if searching him for a lie. "Just as long as you're okay, I guess."

"I am," he assured immediately, nodding and wondering about just how much of that statement was true. He was physically fine at first glance, he thought. But he didn't feel okay, not by any means. He knew that he would get along and live with everything going on, regardless of Yami's absence and the disconnection that came with it, but he didn't think that qualified as _okay_ when it was truly taken into consideration. Something was off whenever he thought to apply the idea to himself. He thought maybe that would change if he could get the red-eyed boy back around him once more. But for the moment he supposed the concept when applied to him was completely wrong.

When he turned his head again, he felt his shoulders rise slightly in frustration. He swore he saw him again, standing off somewhere in the corner of his vision. He chewed his cheek until blood soaked his tongue and narrowed his eyes into slits, frustrated and feeling exhausted once more. His stomach twisted and he tore his eyes from where he had looked down the street once more, staring straight ahead with the others.

"So…are you two actually still together or what?" Mai asked suddenly, startling him enough to make his head snap towards her in shock. The others abruptly stopped their walk as well, spinning around to face him as if they had come upon the idea that they needed to watch him as he spoke.

His cheeks heated faintly, flustered by their attention, and his voice cracked with something akin desperation and pure embarrassment. "I don't know," he admitted weakly, looking away and starting to walk past them. "He doesn't answer me when I try to reach him. For all I know, he's trying to break up with me by ignoring me."

Yugi raised his chin somewhat as he strode past Tristan and Joey. The blond looked far too satisfied with this new information, as if he wanted nothing more than to shout in victory and laugh out loud. Tristan wore a similar but milder expression, but Yugi swore that was only because he didn't want to think or even consider Yami being an actual part of his life than anything else. He didn't bother to glance back and see about Tea's expression or his cousin's, but he was sure they had swapped cringes and sympathetic looks at some point.

* * *

"Yugi, can I talk to you for a minute?" Tea asked a few minutes after school had let out. Yugi had just barely slung his backpack over his shoulder when she had spoken, and paused from cramming his books into his locker to look at her curiously for a moment. She didn't seem upset, not at all unhappy, and her expression seemed almost more serene than it had in days. The thought brought a small smile to his face as he nodded at her and tilted his head curiously.

"Sure, Tea. Just let me get my stuff and I'll meet you outside, okay?"

"Okay."

Yugi tilted his head further as she walked off. Was it him or was she blushing, if only slightly? And…was she bouncing as she walked away? She seemed far lighter on her feet at the moment than he had seen her in days. He pursed his lips, narrowing his eyes, and wondered if maybe it was simply wistful thinking because he had rarely ever seen her blush. And why should she blush over him?

He slipped his books further into the metal locker and hummed softly as he started for the door, pulling the second strap over his shoulder. He paused and spun around again immediately, however, eyes widening drastically. His shadow was draped across the tile in a long stroke of soft gray against white, the only thing in the entire hallway with him. Others had run along to start after school activities—some at school, others at the arcade—and so he was the only one left.

But he could feel him now. There was a gentle but firm chill that had settled across his skin. It was like an extra layer of clothing, but so light that he could easily miss it. He was there, somewhere, around him, maybe even outside but close enough that he could feel his presence once more.

The smaller teen took a moment to revel in the slight shill along his spine and the small mist that crept across the back of his mind, sweeping across his thoughts in that all-consuming way. A surge of pure excitement and undiluted relief slammed through him like adrenaline, rushing through him in spikes with every heartbeat, his nerve endings tingling in relief. He was here, he was back. That meant he was _okay._ That meant that his dreams had been wrong and Yami was still in one piece and he wasn't bleeding to death somewhere.

Yugi closed his eyes, almost dizzy with the sensation of relief and exuberance. And then he continued outside to see Tea, glancing around only once to see if he could spot the other boy before his attention was on her solely. The brunette was waiting for him next to the door, appearing somewhat nervous as she fidgeted and occasionally rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet. He had only ever seen her like this once when he was going to a dance recital and worried that she wouldn't be good enough. He took another split second to look around, wishing desperately that the other might appear before him again.

Weak rays of sunlight made the grass look a strange brown-tan shade where it was normally completely green, rich and deep. During the spring and summer, it was almost like being lost in the treetops. The grass would grow long, demanding admiration and attention, sharp and swaying in the warm gusts of air. But none of that helped him to find Yami…

"Hey," he greeted, turning to her with a slightly guilty feeling for admiring the grass instead of saying hello first. She turned with a faint blush and he furrowed his brows slightly in response. Was it a trick of the light or was she truly blushing? He took the sight in with clear confusion but gave her a smile nonetheless, puzzled but warm, encouraging and reassuring her that whatever it was, it would be okay. "What's up?"

"I, um…" The brunette chewed her lip and Yugi tilted his head, blinking at the unsure expression that crossed her face. For a split second he imagined she looked as if she might back out from the conversation. But then she steeled herself, a quality that he had always admired, because she would not back away when she was faced with something that made her nervous. "Yugi…I've always really liked you. Ha—I'm actually pretty sure you already knew that. I just…I don't know, you're the most selfless person I've ever known and I really admire you."

Yugi blinked and nodded at her to continue, somewhat flattered but maybe a little confused; in reality he knew that this kind of thing could go both ways. She could have been telling him that he was simply a friend to her, cutting him off immediately before he began to show her an actual interest. He neglected to think about how he doubted he would ever be able to wrap his life together enough to actually get that far. Or she could have been saying that she wanted him to be a bigger part of her life, past that childhood friendship that had grown so much over the years.

"I just…You're a really nice guy, and I've seen you do so much for everyone else and I just…I thought that maybe…we could, um…go out to dinner or something," she muttered, tucking a small bit of hair behind her ear in embarrassment, already scolding herself for bumbling and missing the mark. It had seemed so much easier when she had tried earlier with Tristan; then again, Tristan wasn't Yugi and it was so much easier to rehearse with someone that wasn't the target of another's affections…

"Oh," he managed, a small little noise that escaped without him truly considering it or thinking it through. He could already feel the heat rising to his cheeks, burning beneath his skin and painting it red. That was definitely different from what he had originally assumed. The realization brought a small smile to his face, unable to completely fight it off, and he blinked stupidly in surprise. "Oh, oh…_oh_."

Tea gave him a surprised look, furrowing her brows and scrunching up her nose at the response. He blinked again, blushing harder at the inability to speak properly. At this point he almost wondered why she wasn't running because that last one had sounded like one of those long sensual moans he had released in a couple of his dreams. And if he was in her place and a guy was making that noise at him, he would have called it off immediately.

But she was simply waiting, obviously not about to turn away without an answer. And he owed her that, didn't he? Not that he had planned to ignore her, because he was going to answer. But she had gotten up the courage to ask, something that he had not mustered the faith to do in the first place despite how blatantly obvious with his off-and-on crush he had been.

He let out a small laugh, a nervous little giggle that made her blink and then smile in amusement at. He knew she probably recognized it because it was that one he made whenever a girl flirted with him and he got flustered. She had witnessed it a couple of times, with Rebecca and once or twice with Vivian. Maybe she had even noticed it when they were alone and just hanging out together and she would say something that sounded unintentionally like flirting.

"Yeah, dinner sounds nice," he finally murmured, nodding and smiling softly; she blinked and he swore her eyes had just gotten brighter, maybe a little wider as well. The blue seemed different somehow as he looked at her. "Friday maybe?"

"Sure!" she agreed immediately, reaching over to press a small kiss to his cheek; Yugi blinked, blushing at the small bit of affection. "I have to go to dance class now though, so I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

He nodded, smiling again. "Sure, see you tomorrow, Tea," he laughed, watching her turn and run along, occasionally glancing back at him and then blushing before turning away again. Yugi watched her until she faded from sight, running down the sidewalk with a wave while he drew in a small breath and then froze in place.

"'Sure, see you tomorrow, _Tea_'."

He smiled, turning around to face the other teen. "You're an ass," he laughed, shaking his head and studying him for a moment; he looked well at least. There were small bags under his eyes, giving the expression of a tired but wide awake and powerful creature. The red was gleaming and dancing, several shades brighter with darker hues lingering around the outer irises, flared against the black ring that made them up. His pupils were a little more centered than the last time he had seen them, not nearly as distorted and diluted like drops of wet paint. They were focused and sharp like the rest of him, promising power and something akin to open insanity, the true look of a wild predator with no distinct features to be hidden away.

"Are you really going to date her?" he snapped, ignoring his comment completely as his eyes narrowed into slits and his pupils expanded, black starting to bleed outwards into his irises, dancing like smoke. "What happened to not liking her?"

"What happened to not caring?"

Yami's lips pulled back to show off his sharp canines for a moment. He drew in a breath, sniffing the air almost like a dog might, and glanced upwards towards the sky once more. His expression grew strange, curious and unsure, and his right canine caught on his lip as he stared at the clouds momentarily.

"What, you don't approve of her?"

"If I said that I wish to tear her heart out and shove it down your throat, does that speak of approval to you?"

"Well…coming from you, kind of, yeah," Yugi admitted, laughing when the other boy curled his lips back and snarled softly, attention solely on him once more. "What?"

"Don't mock me. I have a mind to do so this instant."

He fell silent, looking him over and licking his lips, a long draw of his tongue that made Yami narrow his eyes though they stayed locked with his. "I wasn't mocking. I was just trying to poke a little fun. Life is easier if you can find a little bit of humor in it. Specifically if there's a boy with _very_ homicidal tendencies and a vicious demeanor that looks a lot like you," he commented, frowning as he searched his eyes, finding only smoldering annoyance that made his skin crawl. He wanted to reach out and touch his arm, but the action seemed as if it might send the other into lashing out with how thin his patience appeared, and so he smothered the impulse. "Look, I wasn't mocking you, okay? I just—"

"If you go out on this date with her, I _will_ tear her throat out," he snarled softly, stepping closer and baring his teeth violently. For a second Yugi thought he saw flames in his eyes, leaping and dancing against his pupils before they vanished immediately again. He breathed out roughly and the noise was akin a pant, making his head spin for a split second. "If you ever let her _kiss_ you again, I'm going to have that organ. Do you understand?"

A long moment of silence passed between them. Yugi was unsure of how to respond or whether there was a way to do so in the first place. Yami was bristling before him, defensive and possessive as if he were something of a prize for him to contain and keep for only his own amusement.

"Why are you everywhere like this?" Yugi breathed softly, eyes wide as he searched his gaze, partly relieved to see him but mostly scared out of his mind for a moment at the way that the sharp orbs bore into his. There was no hint of exaggeration in his features, failing to even possess an inkling of hesitation at his violent threat. He would tear her heart out if he did those things with her, he knew. He didn't mind the threat, not at all, but staring at him as he judged the situation made him shiver. "You've been everywhere I've turned lately. Every time I turn around, I see you there. I _feel_ you there even if I can't see you. You're there to help me, to hurt me, to save me, punish me. Why? Why are you always there?"

Yami narrowed his eyes and Yugi stared at him; did he feel it yet? The smaller boy really hoped he did, that he wasn't alone in this, that it wasn't just him that felt so drastically about him.

He was right. He was always there. He would always _be_ there.

"Do you forget who I am? Where we are?" he murmured softly, lowering his voice just enough that it sounded almost like a hiss but lacked the quality to make it such. "I am exactly where I should be. Behind you. As your shadow and your protector, yes? Maybe you should think to ask yourself why you always _look back._"

Yugi blinked and shivered. Those red eyes bore into his skin like teeth, impossibly deep in their reach before he looked away. His gaze seemed to search down the street, staring almost blindly, and for a moment the smaller teen thought he expected the brunette in question to come running out like a mouse to an awaiting cat.

Protector?

He wasn't entirely sure he understood that sentiment. He didn't seem like the type to protect, more inclined to destroy anything that got in his path, a self-contained storm like flames that hadn't yet tasted more than logs in a fireplace. Yugi shivered as he looked at him; he was his own storm, a fire that had only licked and burned at him with no regard for others around them. He was centered on him like a plague but it was something that the small teen couldn't even feel unhappy about. He didn't even mind admitting the fact that Yami was so buried within him as well was something so beautiful he couldn't wrap his head around it.

"So, you really don't approve?" he finally teased, trying to find some humor in the situation. Yami stepped closer, so abrupt in the movement that Yugi nearly fell backwards out of shock. All sense of personal space vanished with his close proximity safe for a sliver of air between their clothes.

"Don't be incompetent," he snarled softly.

Yugi smiled slightly, trying to draw back some of the nerve that was starting to shake at his breath beating against his face with the statement. "And here I was worried about you and thinking that maybe something had happened to you, but wow, you haven't changed, have you?"

Yami curled his lip at the familiar warmth that coated the statement, as if they were best friends or lovers or knew each other intimately. His skin crawled as that primal instinct existing between them seemed to grow stronger in that instant, burning and lapping at both of their consciences. "Isn't that such a cute concept?" he hissed. "Worrying about me when you plan to drop your pants for the first person who shows you interest. I know you've got some hormones, Yugi, but _really now_?"

This deliciously beautiful little shit…

Yugi smiled in amusement and shook his head, lips twitching further. "Showing interest?" he snickered, smile curling into a wide smirk that made the other stiffen. His shoulders rose in a bristle, his eyes sharpening like shards of glass, and his jaw set firmly for a moment as they looked at each other. Alarm shot through the air between them, smothering both of their senses, and the emotion coursed through both of them like flames against winter darkness. "I wasn't aware that was what you had been doing this entire time, Yami."

He could not even pretend to be mildly upset with the red-eyed teen or his behavior. It just seemed so oddly natural and right when it applied to him. It was almost as if it had always existed, as if Yami had never been missing from his life in the first place. He didn't mind him like this.

This was just him. Hurt and cornered. It was wrong, but neither of them truly cared.

"Oh, shove it, Yugi," he sneered, glancing around slowly as if he were drawing a more acceptable response from his surroundings. He lowered his voice drastically to the point that the smaller teen had to strain his ears to catch it, the soft quality making it far more intimidating than his raised voice ever could. "You kissed me first."

Petulant, always so terribly petulant. But this time he had to admit he was too. But gods, it hurt. He hadn't really thought about it before, having somehow assumed that Yami wouldn't care in the meantime, but it was there. His reaction to Tea made it so abruptly and abundantly clear. It hurt so much, but he was already well aware that he was more scared than he was in pain.

"Such a strong retort," he muttered laughingly, unsurprised and more than a little amused when Yami snarled louder. The noise was deep, coursing with energy, and he closed his eyes to drown in it for a split second, snickering softly again. "Here's what's going to happen, Yami."

"You are not my master. You do not tell me what I shall and shall not do."

"No, and I don't want to be," he said immediately, opening his eyes again quickly to search his face for a moment. When he saw that Yami was listening, no longer bristling but still heavily offended and furious with his original comment, Yugi couldn't help but grin and shake his head. "It's up to you if you decide to place this little wager with me."

Yami's head tilted a tiny degree. His eyes narrowed drastically. He curled his lips back. His body grew completely rigid for a moment. Then his voice came in a soft and distinct tone, keenly interested and without a hint of hesitation. "_Speak_."

_There's that little gamer inside of you_, Yugi thought, immensely pleased as he looked him over and smiled wider. He'd noticed that little flare of passion that had come about whenever he was challenged, the pride that he was unable to smother upon accepting games and wagers. The smaller teen had come to realize that with his passion came the intense boredom that always swept through him and left him desolate. And he knew exactly how to stoke his interest enough to make him pay attention, to have him fold—if only slightly—to his own will.

"A little gamble—a game, if you will. I want a month without you—no reappearing or anything like that. You're not allowed to interfere with my life for that whole amount of time. And if you can keep up your end, I won't go on a date with Tea again after that time is over."

He considered it slowly, his head tipping further to the side as he watched him. Yugi could see a million different thoughts that flittered behind his eyes, the way the colors swirled and bent and grew bright and then darkened as if someone had momentarily struck a flame inside a pitch blackness. Yami did not seem inclined towards the task of speaking as he studied him, merely watching him with those curious eyes which had grown sharper with each second. His mind was racing, the smaller boy knew, circling around and working out every possibility as he judged and weighed his options as if he had no idea what the right answer was.

"You plan to go out with Tea in this month's worth of time?" he asked finally, his voice low and colder than the winter air around them, thickening like spikes of ice and making him shiver.

"I want a month to just, you know, be at least a _little_ normal, like I was before I finished the Puzzle," Yugi explained, nodding once and searching his face. He didn't want him to feel offended by it, though he could easily understand should he be. He would have felt bad and unhappy had someone ever asked him of something like this. It seemed illogical and harsh, though he knew Yami understood the idea even if he wished to dismiss it as a whole, thinking his happiness as nothing more than a burden.

"You wish for things that you can never have," he hissed softly, letting out a low noise akin a harsh scoff. His eyes narrowed once more, gleaming slits of dark red, and his expression twisted into one of pure frustration and hatred. "Very well, Yugi. Keep your legs closed. You wouldn't want a disease from your little whore."

He couldn't help it when he burst out laughing, though he pushed him gently back a step with a shove to his shoulder. "You territorial piece of shit," he snorted, smiling widely as he searched his eyes for a moment and shook his head. "She is not a whore and I'm not going to screw her. A month is _hardly_ enough time to form a relationship with someone and get in their pants."

"So you admit you want to fuck her," Yami spat, narrowing his eyes into slits and glaring at him. There was something foreign in his gaze now, distant and seemingly knowledgeable, and it burned at his insides in confusion even as his amusement grew tenfold.

"Yami, I'm _sixteen._ At this point I think I should just buy a fucking dildo and screw myself with it—especially if you're going to stick around for much longer," he laughed.

"…Except I have a perfectly working penis for you to hop on at any time."

Yugi threw his head back, guffawing at the response. It sounded so distinctly innocent, as if the other boy was simply pointing it out and couldn't figure out why he didn't think of it first. He had made it sound as if he was saying that the sky was blue or that rain fell downwards. He shook his head, grinning at him widely as he looked him over for a split second. The laughter bubbled up once more immediately and he bit his lip as Yami narrowed his eyes, clearly missing the joke of the statement. He was entirely serious, the sincerity of his statement burning in his eyes, unfiltered by any means.

He gave him a furious look, making it clear that he was not amused by his laughter. And his expression grew harsher as the seconds ticked by, jaw clenching and his lip curling back to show off a canine. He did not like the concept of laughter being directed at him, nor at anything he'd said. He didn't look offended yet, but it was clear he would get there soon enough.

"I—you know what? Never mind. I'll make you deal instead, Yami. If you can go this whole month without appearing all of the sudden or butting in, then I'll sleep with you," he announced, nodding once to deter his own racing mind as his thoughts spiraled sharply. His stomach twisted painfully for a split second, reminding him of just how disgusting a trade this was. His mother's words about valuing himself and only kissing or sleeping with someone he truly cared about were in immediate repetition, making his skull ache and pound. But it also felt so distinctly right all at once. And how could one fault him for wanting to give in to his desires?

That primal instinct that lingered beneath his skin drove him towards Yami. It shoved him constantly within that same direction. It whispered that he should never turn away. It told him never to settle for less. It hissed in his ears that he needed to bury himself inside the other boy in one way or another. And its core existence was that of the most simplistic design—he and Yami needed to be joined in the way best they could.

It was strange, but it also made sense to him. And Yugi knew without thought, somewhere deep in his gut, that he would never regret it. He couldn't find it in himself to think back on it and consider it wrong or less than what it should be. It may have been an opposition of what he had always assumed it would be, but he felt that if it were someone else, it would turn into a massive and relentless source of regret for him.

He didn't know if that was because of Yami's nasty little threats or if it was this need lingering beneath his skin, begging for attention even when the other was long gone from his side. But it was there. And he recognized it. He did not understand the reasoning but he knew the need, the reassurance that came with the idea.

Yugi watched him for a moment, studying and wondering at the whole situation his life seemed to have become. He had never truly pictured himself with a guy before—never once even considered it. Before Yami had come into his life, forcing himself there like a knife through his skin, he did not think he would ever have let it cross his mind. He was as open-minded as they came, but he had never thought that guys were more than friends and everything before Yami had been the idea that he would have a girlfriend and maybe a wife one day. He had never had to have the conversation about homosexuality in any way, regardless of whether it was more aligned with protection or not being biased and homophobic. Though it had not been a lifestyle he thought he might choose, he had always accepted and been open to any kind of relationship, heterosexual or otherwise. It had never been a question to him. Love was love, whether people approved of it or not.

But he could never call this thing between them love. Not at the moment and, as he considered it, he thought it would be wrong to call it such in the future either. But there was the potential to grow and maybe he could learn to utilize that as they stumbled along. This thing between them would never be perfect, he knew that, and he would never question it. He did not think he would ever even truly understand the other teen either and it hurt in a strange way, a kind of sad idea in all actuality. But it still did not make him question his own determination to at least try to make it all work out between the two of them. Whether it was that need to be around him or maybe it was just some kind of attraction that he would never be able to shake, he knew he was not about to question it.

It wasn't love. It was primal and vicious and feral. And it existed only with Yami for him. It was all the things that shouted obsession and control issues and the need to smother each other. But he couldn't turn away from it and some part of him wished to embrace it wholly. He didn't know if it would ever actually _become_ love, considering the darker aspects of it and how volatile it truly seemed, or simply remain a thing of survival between them. Regardless of what path it took, Yugi still fully recognized the potential it possessed. And he felt that maybe if he tried hard enough and he could make Yami feel it as well, then maybe it could _become_ love. It would be lopsided and somewhat ill, maybe aggressive and more brutal than most, but still some kind of deep affection and devotion that someone might damn well be envious of one day.

Because nothing between them was weak. There was nothing that he could name that was weak between them. It was like gasoline and fire between them, never ending and always burning violently. There would never be something weak to exist between them. There would never be something shallow. There was too much depth. And that would make it strong, to the point that it would perhaps become overpowering.

"…Maybe I was wrong."

Yugi blinked in confusion, startled out of his own thoughts.

"I thought she was the whore. But now I'm starting to think it might be you."

He burst out laughing at the deeply contemplative expression on his face, and his mouth curled into the widest of smiles as he shook his head. "You're a piece of shit, Yami. But you're right. Teenage boys are the whores. Normally the girls are pretty innocent. Unless you've got one of those partiers. Then you kind of have to worry."

Yami narrowed his eyes and Yugi swore he could see the statement_ I never asked you for that much_ lingering in his gaze. His head tilted slightly, expression still somewhat bored and disinterested with his response. "A month? Only one month?"

"Yep. Only a month. So…I don't know…about twenty-eight days?"

"Twenty-eight…isn't that a little short?"

"Yeah, but February is like that."

He blinked at him, long and slow, his mind working tenfold to fill in the gaps of the statement and work to rewire the knowledge for his consumption. For a split second he allowed it to continue, a million different things bursting forth in his mind, and then he tossed his head in frustration.

"Oh my god, never mind. Just—fucking, _never mind._" Yugi shook his head and reached up to pull on his bangs, frustrated as he watched the other boy. Yami tossed his head once more, expression growing a little more annoyed, but then he stared blankly again.

"But…" He blinked again and his mouth curled downwards at the very idea of asking for help. "Fine, all right. Whatever."

"Don't be like that!" Yugi objected, eyes widening slightly as he saw the way that the other tossed his head again. He looked flustered and confused, tired and angry, but slightly offended as well, and the smaller boy felt immediately horrible for not attempting to explain. But he didn't have an explanation now and trying to tell him something he didn't understand himself did not seem like a good idea. "I don't know how to explain to you how they decided that February would only have twenty-eight days. Don't worry about it, though. It's not that important, honestly. After the month is over and you come back to sticking around all the time, I'll explain everything to you."

His eyes grew wide, startled, and he blinked stupidly as the statement connected in his head. The thoughts halted in his head with such swift ease that it made him dizzy for a split second before blinking at him stupidly once more. The expression almost made him flinch and Yugi swallowed hard as he looked at him. Had he said something to insinuate that he did not want him there? Just a month of normalcy seemed like a reasonable request. It wasn't like he was trying to banish him away or something.

"Yami…I…it's just a month. I'm not…telling you to leave me alone forever or something," he muttered, voice coming out somewhat weak at the very idea of such a request. He would never ask such a thing of him, not that he could ever picture himself wanting to give those words life in the first place. He wanted to squeeze his eyes shut for a moment at the very concept, close his mind to it all. "It's just one little month to feel like a normal sixteen-year-old again. After that it's all back to having you…pop in and out as you want…randomly…"

He hated the words as soon as they sprung to mind. His tongue felt suddenly thick, his throat raw. He did not want him to pop in and out whenever he desired as he did now. He wanted him there around more often. He wanted him to be there when he got up in the morning or when he left for school. He wanted to be there when he went to be bed. He wanted him around so much more often. As he looked at him, he wanted nothing more than to be there for him rather than have to wait for him to reappear constantly. He wanted to have him around. He didn't want to have to worry any longer that something might sever the strange link between them or that he was dead somewhere without his knowledge.

Yugi frowned slightly as the other teen's expression began to grow mollified. Was it his first comment that had changed his suspicion and shock or was it the idea of disappearing at will that made him so calm now? He chewed his cheek as the other boy nodded slowly and then tilted his head again.

"Hmm…so if it must be one month…I get a little parting gift, do I not?"

He blinked, startled by this new line of conversation, and then laughed. "What? A _gift_?" he snorted teasingly, blinking once more before realization slowly dawned on him and he ended up guffawing. "Oh! Yeah, okay, just…you know, not too much. Don't take it too far."

"Oh _please_. I have no intentions of jerking you off right now. I look forward to making you writhe later. Jerking you off now would make _me_ unhappy."

Yugi snorted and shook his head in response, about to tease him, but settled again almost immediately. Yami had moved close enough to press their lips together. And, as he did so, the taller teen laughed softly into his mouth, a dark and dirty sound that bordered on aggression so keen it made him tremble with excitement and disregard. His hand grasped lightly at the thin material of his undershirt and Yugi closed his eyes. He wished he could sink into the other, the sinful flavor of ice and mint making his head spin faintly. It was not a parting kiss like he would have gotten from a girl or someone who planned to go away for a while. It was not friendly or gentle. It was painful, with a brutal edge, and he thought it was all the things that a kiss never _should_ be. Yet, even as his lips began to grow swollen and ache gently, he couldn't find it in himself to question it. It was as if Yami thought he would try to find some way to push himself into him where he couldn't go. His mouth worked as if it might desire to draw blood but he held back because he knew that he shouldn't. It was all of the things that would never be put into a romance novel because it was dark, dangerous, and brutal with a power that made him feel as if he were being devoured. But it worked as if it was just some kind of show of a jealous lover trying to make their cheating partner pay more attention to them instead of the other that had wormed their way into their lives.

The thought made the taller teen chuckle again and Yugi let out a soft scoffing noise as his mouth pulled back slightly. His teeth dug into his bottom lip, tugging once, and the smaller teen huffed once before doing the same when he released. They had both begun laughing now, the sound swallowed equally between the two of them. A small thought filtered its way through Yugi's mind, one of mating rituals between animals, and the drifting idea made the other pause. Something unfamiliar and almost shameful swept between them both, coiling inside the pits of their stomachs in unison, and the shock that passed into the center like a ball of ice made them both pull away. Yugi burst into laughter, at first awkward and then partially horrified, unable to stop himself. He doubled over after a moment, shocking himself with his own growing mortified amusement.

"Oh my god," he managed to get out, choking and glancing at him with a shake of his head. "Oh fuck, I'm sorry Yami! I don't… But you…!"

"Animal mating rituals are not what I'm used to having in my head when we're kissing."

Yugi swallowed some laughter, snickered softly as he tried again to smother it, and then bit his lip as he smiled at him lazily. "I know. I know. I'm sorry." He paused for a moment, tilting his head slightly. "I really am. I didn't even know I was going to end up thinking about _that_ of all things."

Yami arched a brow and snorted, rolling his eyes. "Right, okay, Yugi."

"Um…redo? Or are we done…?"

"Can you make this any weirder?"

"No, but apparently you can! I've never heard that word leave your mouth before!" he laughed, looking him over. "That's kind of hilarious."

"Oh fuck you."

"Not yet. If you keep up your end of the deal, then yeah, there you go."

For a moment Yami stared at him blankly. He looked unsure of what to say or whether to bother speaking to him. Then his eyes narrowed into slits. For a moment Yugi thought he would argue. And then he moved to press his nose into the hair in front of his ear, purring softly and startling him. It was so abrupt that Yugi could do nothing more than open and close his mouth stupidly wlin his shock. He was being so open with his affection, something that Yugi had never thought him capable of, and, in his daze, he found himself merely watching the space that Yami had once occupied.

**So I had plans to post a Halloween one-shot but I have NO idea if I'll manage that . Life has gotten extremely frustrating and I don't have as much time or energy to spend on writing at the moment . Plus my phone is apparently being a little shit about some things (editing and posting being one) so there's also that. On the very top of that is my writer's block and lack of motivation. So, I'm thinking that if you can't finish the one-shot today and tomorrow and have it set up to post, then I'll have to post it a little later. If it's not up by the end of the first week of November I'm just going to save it for next year or something. I might even just jump into editing and adding scenes to it and have it and a second fic next year. Who knows honestly? **


	15. Chapter XV

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Warning: Cursing should be relatively mild but sometimes grows a little more at times, Season 0 Yami...and he's a little more unhinged than usual, so keep that in mind.**

**Note: There are mentions of blood, some graphic images of death, sensual moments and feelings, touches of violence/abuse**

**Update Schedule: I was going for bi-weekly updates, but it's definitely not looking that way now :P**

**Writing Note: I'm trying a new, more descriptive style for a story I plan to write later so tell me how I did with it?**

**Anyways, the story is a way to help get rid of some writer's block I'm dealing with so it's serving as a style-trial and a way to get back into writing.**

**So I had DEFINITELY originally planned to update _The Jackal and the Dragon_ before I bothered with this one. But apparently I don't have the right mindset to write the lemon and work on the drama between the two of them. Apparently lemons hate me right now and refuse to cooperate with me. So I went for _Behind You_ instead. Yay. **

**Dindundon- LOL I'm glad you liked the chapter that much :) Honestly I started laughing so hard at some of the puns in there that I actually had to go back to different spots and reread while I was editing. Actually Tea only interacts with Yugi for a while. I don't think that Tea and Yami will actually come face-to-face in terms of an actual conversation for a WHILE. I'm thinking one or two more installments before that fully happens between the two of them. Although I am excited for the interactions in the sequel cause I'm hoping somewhat that they'll be a bit of a surprise~ But trust me, Yami and Tea and Yugi will have a few interactions in the other installments later. Hopefully those won't disappoint. **

**Well good news. I'm more than halfway through the sequel to _Behind You,_ so there's that to celebrate lol I still need to figure out how I'm going to completely work everything in but I think so far it's going to be good :) Also, as for Yami's secrets, there are some that you'll kind of have to hunt for in between the lines in the sequel and then more blaring ones that come out as things get crazier in the other installments. **

**On a side note, I think it'll be interesting to write Yugi's lies where Yami is concerned and work them into the picture. Cause he's going to be tripping over several of them as the series goes along. ESPECIALLY where Yami's secrets and interactions with other characters are going to be concerned.**

**Any really bad misplaced or misspelled words are still the work of my autocorrect, by the way . I'm still working the whole 4-app editing process. So much fun. **

Chapter XV

Tea looked at him over the dinner menu as if she were seeing him for the first time in years. Despite himself, Yugi found himself with the faint impression that maybe that idea was not too far off the mark in all actuality. He had not felt like himself in so long and now that he had made the deal with Yami, the six days that had already passed were making his head spin and his heart hurt. The numbness that essentially came with each time he was not around had slowly but surely changed into something more, growing into a festering and disgusting new emotion. He recognized it with such familiarity it made him want to be sick and yet he felt it now with such a new intensity that he almost could not say he knew it. A pure, aching loneliness had swept through the core of him, and it refused to lessen no matter his various attempts to convince himself it was only going to be a month. He was not sure if it was because of that kiss or Yami in general or something that had crept across him in the meantime. But he _longed_ for the red-eyed bastard to be near him again, to touch him, to be able to feel his cold skin ghosting over his by means of his fingers. He wanted to be able to breathe in his scent when he leaned forward or have the smothering power of his aura press onto his skin like a layer of clothing. He wanted to see his eyes, red and burning and intense, and nothing he did could shake the sensation. His dreams were laced with his presence as if he were hiding away in the darkness, but he never saw his face and sometimes the red specks watching him seemed not to match. But surely it must have been him, right? Because he heard little whispers in his ears, condescending and nasty, hissing things that he did not understand nor care to listen to.

Was a dinner date meant to be so strange and awkward? It seemed to have dragged on forever and his stomach twisted as he thought of the small kiss he had given her. He wasn't even sure why he had done it when it came down to it; he was starting to think maybe he had just been trying to challenge Yami after some of that insistent whispering in his ears. It had been sloppy and awkward. It was like he had no real _reason_ to make it a smooth and gentle experience. It had come out with his teeth clicking against hers and apologies while she had giggled and said it was okay. She had seemed to think it hilarious that he had kissed someone before and yet doing the same with her had rendered him almost to the point of the inexperience of simply brushing his lips with someone else. And that thought made his stomach hurt, because he wondered if perhaps she had taken it wrong and assumed he was nervous about it all.

He spent the walk with her back to her house chatting about her dance rehearsals and classes because he couldn't bear to talk to her about more than that. He feared if he attempted it he would find that her name was not what would come out of his mouth. He thought it ironic how terribly keen his mind seemed with the task of throwing the red-eyed teen in his face so painfully. It almost felt as if part of him thought he should drop everything and run to him as that primal instinct seemed to dictate. And he found he had to focus on the _smallest_ aspects of Tea that would get him out of his head long enough to hold a conversation with her. His name would not possibly be able to slip out of his mouth if he was thinking about her dance career or her boobs. So…naturally, he chose dancing. Plus…boobs seemed a little rude a subject to focus on.

And what was he really supposed to say if he somehow found himself choosing them as his subject of conversation? "Oh, hey, nice cleavage. Did they grow over the weekend?" or "Flash me" or "How big are your breasts? Like…cup size—what's your cup size?" Yeah, that was really charming. Yugi rolled his eyes at himself every time the thought occurred to him.

While he liked breasts and thought they would most definitely be nice to look at and touch and love on, he was too polite to think it was good material for a conversation. Besides that, it was just a hideous idea in the first place. Who in their right mind might say such a thing and get away with everything intact anyways?

So, when she stood on her porch and kissed him on the cheek, saying, "I had a fun time tonight" he lied with "I did too" and somehow wound up with the next date three days later.

He had lost his ability to remember the dates or even the days that passed. It was getting ridiculous how badly his mind seemed to be deteriorating because of the other boy's absence. It was as if he had no use for time because he was not there. The concept of it had become a foreign, almost nonexistent entity with no true meaning. Nights grew into marathons of dark dreams of Yami keeping his promise, ripping her heart straight from her chest for him to watch. He would freak out, yelling, but all it would make him do was look the organ over and eventually drop it so that it sounded disgusting as it plopped to the ground. Then he would watch with a horrified expression as the other boy would pull his hand to his face, giving him a disgusting and hideous smirk before his tongue would lap out. Each time he watched he would find the little pink muscle stained bright red, matching his eyes, and that expression never once changed.

But it was worse because sometimes, in those dreams he just stood there. He watched when Yami approached from behind her and, unlike the other times, he did not bother to warn her. His memory of the nightmare came forth in each of them, and so he simply watched because the other boy tended to enjoy seeing her spin around. Yugi would simply let his eyes flicker away, towards Yami, staring, because he knew he would never be able to stop him if he wanted it. He was a driving force that he felt _no one_ would ever have the chance of halting. He was his own personal storm and the strength of it was something incomprehensible. So he would simply look at him, watching him wink playfully, and then focus on him fully as Tea slumped and fell to the ground. Most times he whispered an apology, especially when he warned her and she had the chance to scream, but others he couldn't bear to do it. There was just so much power and horror in the nightmares that he did not care to consider it fully.

The second date went a lot like the first and the third. They went to a movie the second time, a play the third. There was a single double date with Mai and Joey the fourth time in which he was driven crazy by the tall blond. He'd waggled his brows every time he caught his eye, almost to the point that Mai tried to keep his attention solely on her. When Tea and Mai went to select a dessert up front at the display table, Joey spent the entire time giving him tips to get her panties off. Yugi stared at him as if he had lost his mind and shook his head several times, growing frustrated, and tried not to scream that he didn't _want_ to try it. All the nightmares burned behind his eyes and his obsession with Yami prevented him even _fathoming_ trying to get into the brunette's pants. It was just nonexistent an idea and half the time he was terrified that if he looked at her, he would find Yami there. And his hand would go straight through her back, grasping her heart in his fist, and she would wilt like a flower before him as she did in his dreams. And all he would be able to do would be stare, horrified, as the other boy simply dropped the organ, watching him like a hawk. He would tip his head to the side, studying, smirk like the Cheshire cat, and his tongue would rasp out to run over his skin slowly. The blood would paint it red and he would have no ability to stop him whatsoever.

He realized that Yami would not do it, that it would not happen, but those damn dreams…

The fifth date was to the pier. She tried to spice it up by taking him to the water with the hopes that it would make him feel better, maybe more like himself. She laughed and said that they should go to the beach when it warmed up again some. It took every ounce of his power not to whisper that that would never happen, that it was an absolute impossibility. Yami would be back in his life by then. He almost apologized to her then for wasting her time.

"Yugi…"

He blinked and looked over, eyes wide. "Yeah?"

"I…" She stopped with her foot only halfway pressed to the ground and stared at him with such intensity it made his stomach toss. He knew exactly what it was going on in her head as they looked at each other. She was an open book and always had been, with an inability to truly hide anything from him.

It was one of the things that he had always appreciated about her. It was so easy for him to know what she thought and that had almost always made it nearly impossibly to mess up completely around her. It was a trait that had attracted him to her but it also made him back up again as well. Because now it seemed just _far_ too easy and most of the time he resented himself for thinking that.

He guessed he wanted someone that he could read that not everyone else was capable of. He wanted to be able to say that he knew them inside and out without everyone else even having a _hint_ of what went on in their head. Yugi thought maybe he wanted someone who had walls up when around others but would let them down around him. And there were only three people he could name that were like that—Mai, Tristan, and…Yami.

"Oh…"

"Oh…"

"…I'm sorry."

Yugi stared at her and thought of how strange this conversation was. It seemed so easy to just know what the other was saying, and it made him feel sick because he wanted that ability with the bastard who had been haunting his dreams. He wanted it with that frustrating piece of shit more than he desired anything else.

And he thought he should hate himself for it but he couldn't. He wanted to say that he wished it was Tea. He wanted to at least even form that thought fully in his head without feeling sick. But he didn't want her and he couldn't do it. He wished for a moment that he would be able to say that he had fought for his feelings for her. But he wouldn't. And he should have been able to say he wished it wasn't Yami but he couldn't.

He wanted so many things that would never truly make sense to him. He could spend hours circulating around the ideas, pacing and obsessing, but it would give him nothing. He should have been content with her, happy that she had chosen him to be her first boyfriend. He should have been head over heels because she was his first crush and she had liberated him with the reality of wanting to be with him too. He should have wanted her for her loyalty, her simplicity, the way he knew her inside and out and didn't have to worry about double meanings or sharp words.

But he didn't.

Instead he was unhappy with anything less than vicious, possessive, dangerous, darkness, sharp teeth, and gleaming red eyes like the fresh blood he had spilled in front of him. He wanted someone who was complicated, frustrated him to no end, made him want to tear his insides out, threatened his friends and family and wished he was dead. He wanted a boy who was so mentally innocent, like a child, with no real understanding of the things around him, who lashed out when he was scared and confused. He wanted a boy who had tried to kill him several times and had almost torn Joey's head off. He wanted someone as lost and off-center and just plain _strange_ as him. He wanted all of the hideous things that came with him and the darkness his world held, the passion his very being possessed.

He wanted the ugly, bitter, sweet heart that was Yami. He wanted the conflict and the danger, the rush of adrenaline and creeping cold that came with him. He wanted fights of claws and fangs and sharp teeth that threatened to crush his jaw when he nipped him. He wanted a potential monster, who claimed he was a god, who spoke of a world that was dark and lonely, who said he had summoned him to his side with the Puzzle. The same boy who had said several times that he would never be able to stop from killing.

He wanted the one who was loose and wild and just plain disgusting and beautiful in the most dangerous and painful of ways. He was the one that he didn't truly understand but desired nothing else but to be able to.

"I'm so sorry," he muttered, shaking his head and staring at her. In all reality, she should have been perfect for him. But she was far from what he wanted. She should have been the perfect girlfriend for him. And, if he hadn't finished the Puzzle, he thought she might have been. If he had never finished the Puzzle and therefore summoned that vicious red-eyed "god" into the world, he might have gone right along with his crush on her. It felt like lifetimes ago that they would have matched together well. And it came to him that it was a foreign thought in his mind now. It seemed displaced, as if their opportunity had passed long ago and only now had they noticed and put in the effort to make up for a lost cause. "I should have said something earlier…"

Tea gave him a small smile so sad that he nearly winced. "I think you've said enough," she offered, shaking her head with a soft look that made him feel terrible. "It just wasn't supposed to be, I guess."

He hesitated. "Yeah…"

A single second of silence passed, both of them simply looking at each other. It was a mutual agreement for quiet, as if mourning something that had never truly taken place.

"Is it Yami?"

Yugi stared at her for a long time, until his eyes felt they might water with the sting they had gained, and then he blinked slowly. His mouth opened and closed once and then he nodded slowly, unable to think of a way to phrase the way her question made his stomach twist. He looked away swiftly, suddenly unable to face her any longer after admitting to himself and to her the dirty secret he wanted kept for only him. And, with this admittance, he found himself almost unable to face the same direction as her, for fear of their eyes crossing.

"I thought so," Tea murmured, and a small laugh left her mouth with such an exhausted edge that he nearly flinched. "You know, when you were talking about him at the arcade, I thought for sure there was something in your voice that was…just different. There was…some strange kind of fondness. And it made me think that maybe you hadn't _really_ just had a one night stand with him, and maybe you guys had been dating at some point. It sounded too close and personal for it to just be a one-time thing."

"We never dated," Yugi breathed out uncomfortably, shuffling his feet. "We haven't even really…It's not that we dated. And sleeping together doesn't really change anything. There's just…something between us. I don't know what it is but it's intense and…I don't know how to explain it, really."

Tea watched him for a moment as her smile fell into a small frown. She furrowed her brows faintly, watching him closely with the intent of trying to pick up on something to tell her exactly what it was he was trying to say. But he hardly had an idea, so how could she? How was he supposed to explain such a primal connection to a person?

"I…" He paused, hesitating, and for a moment his voice was nonexistent. "It's…I can't call it love because that's definitely not it. I guess it's just…something that you would read about in a novel or magazine article where they describe things as just being completely…_different._ I don't know what he does to me but it's intense and I love it even when I don't want to. I could almost say that it's like…finding my other half in someone so completely different that it seems impossible. And it hurts. It hurts _so_ fucking much, honestly. It's everywhere—the pain. It's burning beneath my skin and it's got to be the single most pleasurable thing I've ever felt. I don't…I could say it was like drugs but that's…it seems like it's cheapening it and making it smaller than it actually is. I honestly…I just don't know _how_ to put it into words. All I really have to go with it is that it's…well…it's darker. And it's dangerous and it's aggressive. It's something that no one would really want in their life unless they had a taste of it. And if you're just…hearing about it, it seems a lot…stranger and darker than it truly is. But I…I want it. I want it more than _anything_."

She watched him closely and her blue eyes were pained but quickly growing hesitant, slightly suspicious. Her mouth tugged downwards faintly before finally she mumbled, "He's…he's not hurting you…is he? Because at the arcade before…"

"He won't hurt me," Yugi promised softly, smiling almost sadly as he shook his head and pursed his lips. A feeling of exhausted exhilaration crept through him all at once, a sudden rush of adrenaline at the very concept of trying to _describe_ the thing that existed between them. "He really won't. It's just different so it makes it scary. And it's not something that anyone would ever really consider wanting or seeking out because no one would believe me if I tried to tell them about it. It's like I lost half of myself somewhere in my life and suddenly I've found it but it's just so different from me that it's almost unrecognizable but it's there. And I feel it. I can hold it, I can touch it, I can…I can embrace it and just drown in it if I wanted. I…it's really painful and different. And that's what would make most people turn away from it…No one wants that kind of pain constantly. And that's what it is—constant. It ever changes. It's always there. It won't let up…"

She stared at him with a worried expression, eyes wide and teeth gnawing on her bottom lip as she considered what to say in response. But what was there to truly say? What was she supposed to put into words? It wasn't as if she understood and she didn't want to make him feel like she doubted his sincerity, when it was so clearly written on his face, making his eyes bright like stars. Instead, chewing her lip until blood filled her mouth, she allowed him to continue even as he awkwardly moved to run his shoe over the wood under their feet.

"He's like the moon and I'm the tide. There's just this really powerful pull that can't be ignored, always there, never changing, and it's eternal and beautiful but it's painful and dangerous and I just…I love it so much."

Tea blinked once, a long and slow movement, and he could already already tell from the way her weight shifted that she had caught onto the very thing he had not come out and said. "You love the effect he has on you…but you don't love _him_…"

"No, I don't love him," he admitted, looking at her and shrugging after a moment. "But I don't want to love someone else. It would feel…so fake if I tried. I know that sounds crazy, but I…I guess I just _know._ And I…I'm so, _so_ sorry I put you through this, Tea. I wish I would have just come out and told you when I first realized…"

She shook her head, giving him one of those small sparing smiles that spoke of not entirely understanding and open but slight skepticism. "Do you think you'll ever love him?" she asked instead, effectively cutting off any traces of apology he might have been about to say. He frowned at her slightly and his head tilted to the side in wonder at the question, something that, despite himself, he had not been able to fully bring himself to consider.

"I don't know," he finally mumbled, not wanting to dwell on the thought for too long. He thought more likely than not he might be able to say he was in a comfortable but loveless relationship. But another part of him wondered at the idea, if Yami was a creature that could be loved and receive such affection without that blaring hatred to make him want to cower away. "I honestly don't know. I don't think it's _impossible_, but for the moment I don't think it's going to happen now, or really any time soon. Maybe it will…down the road, when things are…different and we know each other better, but not for now."

"Oh."

It was both relieved and despaired, and Yugi wondered if he should truly take that tone into account. Of course she was somewhat happy to know that maybe he wouldn't fall in love with him, if only because she wanted to keep alive that idea in some distant fantasy that the two of them could still make it. And then, on the other hand, she was sad for him, because she, like many others, believed that there was no such thing as a relationship without love. And that had to be one of the saddest things someone could ever think to have their friends suffer though.

"But you know, I don't think it would be all too bad if we _didn't_ fall in love either," he admitted, laughing softly at her startled and confused expression. Her cheeks grew slightly red, as if she only then realized her tone, but Yugi merely shrugged at her casually. "I don't think that loveless couples are always so badly off. I think that…maybe sometimes that's what is best for you to be in. I think that maybe being in a loveless relationship for the moment won't be all that bad an experience. It's…almost like friends with benefits, maybe, or possibly more like friends who trust each other deeply enough that they don't have to hold titles like boyfriend and girlfriend. And then there is not the need to worry about unfaithfulness or anything like that. I just…I don't know. I honestly think that even if we aren't in love or we never fall into it, we'll still find a way to complete each other. Maybe it won't be all gooey hearts and romance, but it'll be strong and deep and satisfying anyways."

"How do you know he won't…you know…wander off?"

Yugi shook his head and smiled at her to suppress his laughter. "He won't."

"But how do you know that?" she pressed, her eyes growing more skeptical at his expression. A new concern was tugging at her gut, and if not for the fact that she trusted his judgment wholeheartedly, she might have wondered if Yami had somehow enchanted him. Was it possible that he had wrapped Yugi around his finger and the smaller teen was unable to pull away for some reason or other? Was it possible for someone to become addicted to someone else?

"I just…There are some things that you just know instinctively," he finally replied, shrugging and smiling at her so casually that she nearly had to double check and make sure she was not misreading his expression. "Yami is one of those loyal souls, the ones that wouldn't stray even if you pushed them until they broke or tried to leave them behind somewhere. He would always find his way back…to me. He's not one of those people who would wander off just because he could."

"I honestly don't understand how you get that kind of idea about him," Tea sighed softly, shaking her head and giving him such a genuinely concerned look that he almost wondered at his own words. "I mean, I know I never met himself aside from that day in the alley but Yugi…I just…I don't understand."

He drew in a deep breath, wondering at what it was he should say before finally sighing. "Yami is a person who doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve. You will never see the things you want in him until he allows you to. And you won't get answers out of him until you manage to ask the right questions. You will never be able to make him bend when he's dead set on something. There is no fighting him because he has to be _the_ most stubborn bastard in existence. There is no conversation with him unless he wants it because otherwise he'll likely just ignore you. He's complicated and stupid and childish when he's angry. But he's that kind of person that brings out the worst in me but shows me the best when I least expect it as well. He's not someone that everyone is actually _meant_ to understand. He's more of an observer than he is the active participant, and he's the one who understands but doesn't allow others to do the same with him." He shook his head after a moment, laughing softly as he thought briefly of just how unlikely it was that he would ever truly understand him fully. "I know some of his best and worst qualities. He's shown them to me willingly. He's shown me a few things that I didn't ever want to know and he's shown me the things that have made me desperate to see further. I don't have anything really to say about him beyond that, honestly. He's…he's Yami."

She shivered, picking at some of the words he had spoken and shaking her head again with that clear confusion still coloring her eyes. She didn't understand, he realized, how anyone would want a relationship like that. With the two of them, there was rarely anything one of them didn't know about the other, and it was easier to open up to each other than anyone else. He realized then that that was probably the security that most people needed in relationships and it was startling in that brief second that it took him to realize he might not miss that type of blanket while with Yami.

"Okay, well…I trust you so I know that you know what you're doing," she murmured, nodding once at him. "But if it gets to be too much or anything like that…just know that I'm always here for you, okay? Just…don't forget the rest of us because you might have a boyfriend."

Yugi burst out laughing, shaking his head and feeling a small, brief warmth surge through him. "No way! Forget you guys? Hell no. Yami may become a new constant in my life but he isn't going to be something that takes me away from you guys," he promised, smiling at her lopsidedly and wondering at the very idea of that. "First of all, I know he wouldn't want me doing that in the first place—I tend to piss him off—and second I wouldn't let that happen."

She laughed at the way he winked at her. "Okay. As long as you're sure."

"Honestly, Tea…I don't think I've ever been more sure about something before in my life."

* * *

"Grandpa!"

Yugi wandered around the upstairs for a moment and then froze in place. What if he had been needed to go back to the hospital while he was out on his date? A cold shiver of fear crept through him, sending his mind plummeting drastically; if he was back at the hospital for whatever reason, it was too late for visitors. He would be kicked out immediately upon entering the building. Oh gods, was there anyone with him? Where was his mom? Was his mom with him? He hoped so. If he couldn't be there, then he hoped she would be at least.

He shivered again and then sped off for the kitchen, skidding for a brief second and making a harsh shrieking noise on the tile where his sneakers had gotten wet. He grabbed the phone from its cradle there, immediately dialing the number as his mind began to race further along the path. What if he was in intensive care or something? What if he was dying? What if the Puzzle had finally decided to claim his life now? He breathed in hard, barely swallowing back a noise that threatened to creep up his throat, and then clenched the phone harder as it continued to ring.

Only as he did so did his mind abruptly focus on his own cell phone. And now he wondered if maybe he wasted too much time picking up the phone and dialing the number. But wouldn't it be about the same amount of time he would have had to spend unlocking his phone and then going through his contacts?

"Hello? Domino Central Hospital—"

"Sugoroku Motou, is he there?"

There was a long pause in which he swore he heard some nurses laughing in the background and some whispering before a tapping accompanied it all. He pursed his lips, almost shifting his his weight in impatience, and then relaxed immediately as she began to speak again.

"Um…yes, he is. Hold on, let me redirect your call to his room, okay?"

"Thank you…"

He waited out the few minutes it took for the phone to even seem to ring at first. He realized, most likely, his anxiety had simply made him miss the noise, but his relief at the answering click as it was pulled from its cradle made him stop short. A voice with enough power to send chills down his spine chuckled, "Why hello, Yugi."

He found his fingers knotting the spiraled wire around his fingers. "Yami."

"Mmhmm." He swore he heard Yami shift to cover the phone's receiver for a moment. His voice came in a brief, drifting mumble, and then the moment passed and his attention was fully granted towards him once more. "Your grandfather is about to sleep."

"Fucking hell, what are you doing there?" he breathed, alarm creeping up and down his spine in horror. He almost wished for a second that he could accuse him of having done something, if only so that he could have an immediate answer to the questions filling his head. But the thought of accusing him, the very idea that Yami would go against him in such a way at a time like this, seemed highly improbable. And the thought of actually saying something along those lines was gone before he could even blink. "Yami, I…is he okay? What happened?"

"Relax, little game. He's fine. He fell off a ladder at the game shop," the other teen drawled in a bored tone, and Yugi could imagine him looking at his nails with disdain. "He was getting something off one of the shelves in the storage room and he slipped. Your mother is not here, in case you were wondering."

"Not really." He paused, laughing awkwardly. "So…then he's okay?"

"Yes. I was told something about a bruised tailbone or…something or other, I believe? They said he landed…wrong, I suppose," he snorted before laughing at something that the smaller teen could not hear. "I expect you wish to speak to him? _Verify_?"

Yugi shivered at the little sneer of the word. "Not to verify," he he corrected softly, relief making his body feel lighter. The other boy breathed a little sharply in his ear, almost as if he wanted to snarl his disbelief but had abruptly decided not to. "I just want to say goodnight to him."

"Very well."

He frowned at the noise in the background. Yami said something to his grandpa, causing him to let out a deep chuckle. There was a static ruffling that came over the phone and then the deep rasp of the elderly Motou's voice greeted his ears.

"Yugi!"

"Grandpa! You're okay? I mean…never mind. I know you're okay. Yami just said you were fine. I just…Ha, was kind of surprised when I came home and no one was here…"

"Sorry about that," he snorted softly, chuckling again before clearing his throat. "I wasn't even on the floor for more than a minute before your…well, before Yami got there. He got me the phone to call the ambulance."

"…Yami was there?" he breathed out, voice shaking in confusion. It occurred to him suddenly that it should not have been Yami placed in that situation. It should have been him. He should have been the one to take care of it, as Yami was not even related to the older man biologically and that should not have been his responsibility by any means. "Why was he…?"

"He…came to speak to me. About…something to do with your Puzzle," he said with clear trepidation, and the smaller teen wondered as he wound the wire harder around his fingers if he was glaring at him in annoyance or not. A long minute passed and Yugi strained his ears but could hear nothing more than the television playing loudly in the background. "Tomorrow, can you come over to the hospital? I want to talk to you about it."

Yugi stared at the wall, his fingers turning red where they were caught in the cord, and let out a small breath that bordered disappointment and frustration. "You're not coming home tonight?" he verified slowly, looking towards his fingers and for a moment wondering why they could not be as bright as Yami's eyes.

"They've insisted on keeping me the night. I only got here a couple of hours ago as it is. I suppose it makes sense…"

"…Is it bad?"

"No, it's…not bad news. It's…well…I don't know how to tell you this. It'll have to wait until tomorrow."

"Does it have to do with Yami?"

There was a long pause. "Yes. He wants me to explain something to you because he says he's impatient with your lack of searching for the answer on your own."

Yugi stayed quiet for a moment, still staring at his fingers as he tried to think the statement through. He was tired of his lack of searching for the answer? What answer was he supposed to be looking for again? He slowly unwound the wire from his fingers, narrowing his eyes and listening for a moment as Yami chuckled at a bit of dialogue from the television. "Why he looks like me?" he finally asked, staring at his fingers again, wishing again briefly that they might mirror that vibrant color.

"Yes. It's…rather complicated."

"Yeah, everything seems to be with him and the Puzzle," Yugi quipped, though it sounded oddly warm even to him. He paused and then listened once more for any hint of laughter from the other teenager but was granted nothing. "Sure, Grandpa, I'll be there in the morning."

"Good, good, good…"

"Ha, you sound tired."

He yawned. "I am."

"Then I'll go ahead and let you go."

"All right."

"Goodnight. Love you."

"Goodnight. Love you too, Yugi."

"Hey, Grandpa?"

"Yes?"

"…Can you put Yami back on the phone real fast?"

"Sure. Give me a second."

He heard something pass between them, the smallest of exchanges, but most notable was Yami's change of tone. It curved into a low, frustrated, snide pitch before it fell into its original timbre, almost void of emotion as he murmured, "Yes?"

Yugi bit his lip and chewed his cheek after a moment, opening and closing his mouth. He could not form the words that he wanted to say, unsure of how to phrase them, and swallowed hard as they attempted to bubble out without filter. And then, squeezing his eyes shut and leaning against the wall, relieved by the fact that it was so sturdy where he felt so off-balance, he managed a small, soft, "Thank you."

"Mmhmm."

"I…Goodnight Yami."

There was the briefest of silences and for a moment Yugi pictured his eyes widening faintly and then narrowing, surprised and then skeptical. "Goodnight Yugi."

* * *

"Hey, Grandpa."

The elderly Motou turned his head immediately, grinning widely as he took him in. For a moment Yugi noticed he would not lower his eyes and then they fell on the Puzzle as if drawn there forcefully. The curve of his lips faltered faintly and he blinked before looking to his face again immediately and gesturing him over.

He felt a somewhat guilty, knowing that he made the very pointed decision to bring the Puzzle with him when he came to his visit. For whatever reason, a sneaking suspicion had come over him that he might try to duck out of the conversation or change the topic if it was not physically there. He had not spoken to him about it before and Yami was not there to completely control their conversation and keep it on track. He might have asked him to come to speak to him about it, but there was always a small bit of reluctance that came with things of that nature. It was only human to want to back away when something scared or worried someone, and that was no different with the Puzzle in question. In fact, it seemed almost somehow taboo to even bring it up in conversation if it was not with Yami who would avoid and glare and ignore the moment it was questioned his connection to it. His grandpa had not once truly spoken about the Puzzle since he had finished putting it together and had shown it to him in the first place, saying a simple, "I see you did it, my boy! Good job!" And then he had left it, the subject completely dropped altogether as if it were as venomous as a snake about to strike. He had not even seemed to give it a second thought despite the deaths of his friends and colleagues upon being discovered.

"Take a seat," he mumbled, moving to sit up and groaning softly. Yugi sprang forward, snatching the remote off the bedside table and pressing the button for it to fold enough to allow him a proper seated position.

"You aren't supposed to do that! That's what the remote is _for_!" he snapped, eyes flashing with mounting frustration at his dismissal. The small teen had shown him numerous times how to make the remotes work when he was hospitalized and yet, still, the elder Motou refused to use it.

His grandpa rolled his eyes, making it clear that the lesson was again a lost cause, that his bickering was useless, but smiled at him anyways. The small teen let out a sigh that bordered once more both frustration and disappointment before he grabbed the chair nearest to him and pulled it forward. He was mere inches from the bed, close enough that he could feel his grandpa's body heat but still separated by the bars on the side of the bed there.

"Can I ask you something before you start about the Puzzle?"

"Yes, of course. What is it?"

He hesitated, unsure of how to ask such a question that could clearly be taken in the most blatant of ways, and waited for a moment, struggling with the task. Finally, shaking his head, he sighed out, "What was Yami doing there?"

Sugoroku stared at him for a moment, surprised by the query, and then gave him a smile of open amusement. "Ah, so that's what you're so worried about. He didn't push me off the ladder if that's what you were thinking," he teased, shaking his head and smiling a little wider as his grandson's frown.

He blinked and then tilted his head to the side fractionally. Had that been what he had been thinking? At some point he had begun to lose track of the many ideas that had clambered into his head all throughout the night, keeping him awake for hours. Most of them had not been about anything more than the curious idea that he hoped that Yami had stayed at the hospital with him all night. If his mother couldn't, then maybe the red-eyed teen had, and he wouldn't have to sleep alone…

"I was trying to get a box of booster packs down to restock when he came in. I had already fallen down and at first I thought he was you but then he started talking and I realized how wrong I was." He paused, snorting, and a small rueful smile crept across his face as he shook his head. "Now that I am considering it, I have to question how I could ever possibly assume he was you, regardless of how closely he resembles you. He has that…feral quality to him. It didn't help when he started circling me like a wild animal."

The words were said as a harmless joke, but Yugi found his eyes widening and his back stiffening. His teeth tore into his cheek, his breathing coming out slightly rough at the idea. How long had he simply left his grandpa laying there? Had he let him suffer due to his own disinclination towards helping someone else? Had he forced his grandpa to persuade him to call the hospital? But then, how could he have known to do such a thing in the first place? Yami still snarled and bristled like an enraged and rabid dog when he heard the alarm go off by the bed or the phone ring. But did lack of knowledge really excuse such a thing as that? He would have known that he was hurt so why wouldn't he have tried to help him at least sit up?

"He couldn't move me. He would have broken my back, Yugi."

His head snapped up slightly from where he had been unconsciously staring at the Puzzle as the questions had rolled in. He ran a finger over the eye, unnerved, and swallowed hard as he stared at him blankly.

"He may not be human but he isn't a monster."

Yugi stiffened. "You know he's not…?"

"No human has eyes like that," the old man laughed, shaking his head in amusement and giving him a grin like the Cheshire cat. "Nor that kind of raw power. I could feel him for what seemed like miles before he ever even first approached the shop."

He shivered and shifted his shoulders awkwardly. What was he meant to say to that? Did he really expect him to respond to that in the first place? He frowned, looking at him, and the stare he got in return made his skin crawl briefly. His plum purple eyes were boring into him, daring him to ask, practically begging him to let loose the words which rested on the tip of his tongue.

"Do you know what he is then?"

"A god."

Yugi felt his entire spine clench with tension, his jaw clamping shut as he shivered. His eyes grew wide, darting between his grandpa's, horrified and confused, and wanted to laugh despite the dry cough that tickled his throat. He was joking, right? Yami had said that he was a god several times, but that could have been his ego talking, but now his grandpa was saying it and…he could have just been going along with it, right? Surely the red-eyed teen was not truly a…

"What has he told you exactly?"

He hesitated, for a moment unsure of what he had even said before his mind began to filter the words through his consciousness slowly. "…Not much. Something about being dragged into this world by the Puzzle…and a place where others were dying and he was the only one left…?"

"I think he might be a little confused about his origins at the moment." Sugoroku paused for a moment and then shook his head, smiling faintly in amusement. "I don't think he has the clearest of heads at the moment. It might be residual. But I believe the place he came from may have been the Shadow Realm."

Yugi stared at him for a long moment and then shook his head slowly. He knew about the Shadow Realm from his stories about ancient Egypt, of games with punishments and dark magic as old as time itself. He knew of it because sometimes, when he was younger and had lied, his grandpa would say he would end up going there because the monsters lived there and would snatch him up. Because of that, he had been so scared he would beg him not to let them get him and blubber out the truth each time, no matter how small the crime. He had done it when he had eaten one too many bananas as well as when he had taken an extra cookie from the jar when he was not supposed to.

"You said that anyone who went there could never come back. That the darkness eventually just…deteriorated them completely and there was not even _trace_ of that person left! How could he have come from there? Even with the Puzzle, it's not like he was living _inside_ of it _instead_ of the Shadow Realm if that's where he really did come from…"

"Well, I cannot be entirely sure of how that would have happened. I would say that he's…well, being a god, I would suppose that it would have saved him. Either that or his essence is that of one powerful enough to withstand that kind of torture. I have never heard of anything coming out of it unless summoned by magic. And you weren't trying to summon him when you put it together." He paused and his eyes fell on his face, startled but growing somewhat excited. "What did you wish for when you put it together?"

He stayed quiet for a long moment, considering what it was that he might have asked for. A couple of months before, he would have wished Joey had the guts to ask Mai out without him having to play the middle man. Anytime before that, it might have been that his grandpa's health was better. Maybe even to pass a test in a bad subject. But, in reality, he could not call to mind a single thing that he might have truly wished for without it all being a passing joke to him.

"I didn't really think about that much as far as a wish went," he admitted, frowning at him as he tilted his head and chewed his cheek in confusion. "I guess I was more concerned about getting you out of the hospital than I was finishing the Puzzle."

Sugoroku was silent for a long minute and then finally sighed, "Then I guess its magic took its natural course when it was completed."

"What does that mean exactly?"

"That you started it when you were eight years old and then finished it when you were sixteen. Half of your life was spent on that Puzzle, so half of your soul was taken in the meantime."

"Excuse me?"

"The Millennium Items were always said to be…double-sided and not at all easy to control," he muttered, frowning. "That's why everyone on the actual dig was…"

Yugi narrowed his eyes and then shook his head slowly. "You're telling me that you let me have a Puzzle that was cursed and…took half of my soul because I spent half of my life putting it together?" he asked quietly, dragging the statement out for a moment because he couldn't truly wrap his head around the idea. "I..._Grandpa_!"

"I didn't think you would put it together!" he admitted, grimacing at his grandson's scandalized expression. "I thought that after the first couple of years you would just stop! But you didn't and…"

"So I brought a feral god here after half of my soul was taken and—is that why he looks like me?"

His grandpa started laughing softly, amused out of his mind by the way that his voice had grown shocked but mostly just frustrated. "I think what happened was he didn't completely disappear in the Shadow Realm and the only creature that could ever survive that place would _have_ to be a god of some sort. And the Millennium Puzzle is known as the Puzzle of the Gods, so it must have bonded with him at some point while you were trying to put it together or maybe even before that. Since the Puzzle had already taken half of your soul, it probably gave him a new form through you, making him…look like you."

Yugi stared at him for a moment, sighing as he lowered and shook his head, eyes trained on the floor. "'You think you're a good person? No, you're just as disgusting as the rest. Greedy and ambitious and just as jaded as I am'," he muttered under his breath, echoing exactly Yami's statement form what had felt like years before. He fell back a little more fully in his chair and closed his eyes tightly. "'A god. I am a _god._ No, I am not an incubus. Your little demon lore is nothing to me. I require your energy because this body is still being created. It has yet to truly become solid. If my existence were a fact, my reflection would not be what it _is._ No, you brought me here, you bound me to you, you gave me form and life and things I have _never_ wanted. Your only _true_ payment to me is the fact that I need your energy when you are euphoric and drowning in emotions, when we bleed into each other and you allow me to take from you…'"

"What are you saying, Yugi?" His grandpa leaned forward, but his voice was still so terribly low that his words were all but nonexistent to him. "I can't hear you."

"'Eventually when my body is solid and no longer suffers the restraints that it does now, maybe then I will be able to kill you without causing harm to myself.'" He blinked slowly, drawing his eyes to his grandpa's confused expression, taking in the way he had changed position to try to listen to his words. Slowly, a new question began to filter through the mudslide that most of his current thoughts had become, and he shook his head slowly as his eyes darted between his. "Why are you avoiding his name?"

"…Names give you power over things and others," the elder Motou finally replied, sighing softly and shaking his head. A frown slowly began to etch itself across his face and Yugi found himself almost bristling with alarm at the dread that seemed to make up the color of his irises. "Yugi, when you gave him a name, you made it impossible for him to ever be able to go back—"

"But he doesn't want to go back! I already know that! He said so himself once, but even if he hadn't, I saw it on his face when I asked him about the Puzzle and where he came from. He said he couldn't go back and when I asked him why he would want to, he said that he wouldn't even if he was given the chance. He doesn't want to go back to…wherever he came from!"

"Yes, but he's dangerous and it's…Yugi, he's a _god_, stuck in a human body with powers beyond comprehension. You cannot honestly think that him being here could be good for anyone—not him, and not us and not anyone!" Sugoroku protested loudly, his tone bordering sharp before his eyes widened upon seeing his grandson's expression. Yugi's jaw had clenched, setting, and the muscles were jerking at the edges of his cheeks, his eyes narrowed as they brimmed with fire, burning into his angrily. "I am not blaming you, Yugi. Please calm down, okay? I am not even going to say it was your fault. You never knew what you were doing and I should have taken it upon myself to tell you not to continue with the Puzzle. I just mean to say that we do not know what will happen with him here."

"Do you really think he's going to be such a big problem?" he finally asked from between his teeth, feeling a cold chill trail down his spine as he drew in a deep breath. His heart began to hammer in his chest at the very idea of the emotion he could see in his grandfather's face. If he was afraid of him, then did that mean he was scared of Yugi as well? If he was right and Yami was actually created from half of his own soul, then didn't that mean…?

"I don't honestly know. But I don't think that if it does, the effects will be immediate. If there is one to occur, I think it will be a long and slow process. And maybe I'm even worrying for no real reason. I just meant to say that he is powerful and there is no true way to control him should it need to happen. It's just…it's dangerous to gamble with such odds. And thinking it will be completely fine is extremely selfish and foolish. It seems delusional to assume that in any way."

Yugi stayed silent for a moment. His eyes narrowed in consideration, his mouth growing dry as he blinked slowly. He was not sure that he could do everything right and he knew that he would never be able to contain the red-eyed teen. But he did know all of what was at risk, and despite it all, he had to have Yami around. It was a matter of survival, he was finding, in the most illogical of senses. He had no real choice in the matter any longer, as it had grown beyond a simple craving to mental, emotional and physical need, so deep-rooted he thought he would never find the source. What bothered him was the idea that he really had no answers and he thought Yami would hoard the few that he had.

He shook the idea off and turned the subject back around for a moment, breathing out a deep breath. "The name thing, Grandpa…What were you saying about the name thing?" he mumbled, blinking slowly as he looked at him closely.

"Names give you power over someone else," he murmured, voice dropping to a low timbre that vibrated unevenly with a nervous tension that made Yugi feel sick to his stomach. "You have witnessed that already. You bound him here."

"I am exactly where I should be. Behind you. As your shadow and your protector, yes? Maybe you should honestly be asking yourself why you always _look_ _back_," Yami's voice repeated in his mind, so clear and powerful that he almost thought he was beside him that moment.

Yugi shivered, eyes flickering towards where he thought he might find him should he suddenly appear within the room. But the spot beside him was empty and he drew in a deep breath as he wondered how it was that he had ever managed to obtain so much power over him in the first place. Yami had claimed he was the only threat he had to him when it was brought into consideration, and that he had power that he should never have had over him.

"Not a threat? You? You're _not_ a threat? Are you serious, you stupid boy? You are the only threat. You have something of mine that I want back. I want it back, _Yugi_," he had laughed, so long ago, in that alley, the first day they had crossed paths, when he was walking home. The small teen shivered again and moved to hunch his shoulders forward, hands between his legs with his knees pressed together for a moment. "Oh no, don't mistake yourself, _Yugi._ I know I'm not above you. But I'm not exactly beneath you either. Hell, I'm not even level with you yet."

That explained so much now that he considered his words and actions as one. That explained his reaction to the name that day when he attacked Joey and Tristan too. The name had caused him to freeze in place for those few split seconds. And then he had lashed out as violently as he could, planning to do the very thing he could not to Yugi and kill Joey in retaliation.

He cringed and reached up to run a finger over his neck, as if checking his own frantic pulse. It throbbed and tingled beneath the pad of his finger, and his head spun as he swallowed hard and struggled to breathe in deeply enough to keep from quaking. He could hear Yami's voice in his head, slithering like a snake, sneering and snarling, hissing and laughing, so sharp and yet smooth like a blade's edge.

Had he not questioned his name, why Yugi had given it to him? Had he not thought Yugi was trying to claim him by demanding to know whether he assumed he thought he possessed ownership over him? Hadn't he demanded to know if he assumed giving him that name would allow him to control him? Hadn't he made a point of sneering that it would not save his friends and family from certain destruction?

No wonder he desired so fervently to kill him. He had never thought of more than completing the Puzzle to show to his grandfather and the results had been catastrophic for the red-eyed teen. He wanted nothing more than to kill the very source of threat that he found himself tied to so fully.

Yugi thought briefly of the night Yami had crawled onto his bed, seemingly so common now that his mind was trying to pin it down. Oh, but that conversation had been anything but. Yami had proclaimed him the only threat that night, and now he understood why he it was he was so resentful and feared him as such. Yugi had never thought himself so mindless as he did at that moment. He had had no idea what he was doing, pathetically stupid and refusing to quit despite the magic that he knew existed in the Puzzle which could have swallowed him whole.

He squeezed his eyes shut and tugged on one of the links of the silver chain around his neck. It flared with fire and then burned with ice but he did not release. He could have killed himself, gotten his family killed, his friends…but somehow he had ended up bringing and binding a creature as dangerous as the red-eyed teen to them, to _him._ Yami had resigned himself to a role that he knew he did not need, that they were both well aware did not need to be filled. He was forced to follow him like a dog, faithful but desperate for the chance to sink his teeth into his flesh at any moment. And he had never meant to…

"Explain the name thing. Why…why won't you say his name?"

There was a pregnant pause and Yugi nearly cursed under his breath as his grandfather drew in a deep breath and sighed, "It will bring him here."

"What?" he hissed out, blinking his eyes open and staring at him in open confusion. "What do you mean it'll bring him here? I've said his name _plenty_ of times and he's never…"

He found himself trailing off, his eyes flickering towards the floor. His shadow was stretched out lazily against the sterile white tile and he saw just how dark it was compared to the bed or even the chair he was seated in.

"I am exactly where I should be. Behind you. As your shadow…"

Oh gods, he had never truly left him, had he? Maybe he was not physically present, but he was still there somehow, watching and waiting for the moment to spring forward. He was, in all reality, omnipresent as he had once felt that day, wasn't he?

His grandpa gave him a solemn smile, plum eyes grave.

"What should I do then?" he demanded, despaired as his stomach clenched painfully. "I don't want him to have to…I mean that he…He shouldn't be forced to come to me every time I say his name…"

"It's a strange…circumstance," his grandpa muttered softly, eyes growing distant as if remembering something from long ago, "but he does not seem to be completely ruled by that law. I know that you were saying his name last night—on your date with Tea. When he called the hospital his eyes would start glowing abruptly and he would freeze in place like a statue, listening. It was one of the oddest things I have ever seen. And the moment that he realized he was not needed he would become as animated as he was before then. He did not even take a moment to adjust, simply refused to acknowledge it afterwards…"

"Okay, but that doesn't mean anything," Yugi snapped, blushing at his own ferocity before sighing loudly. "I…what do I do to make it so that he doesn't _have_ to respond to it _every_ time someone says his name?"

"Make it longer, I suppose."

It was said so casually and without circumstance that the small teen blinked several times and then frowned at him in puzzlement.

"What does that even mean? You…are you saying to give him a last name or something?"

"No, I mean making his current name a nickname instead."

"You mean…making Y—making it a nickname…so like…I don't know, giving him a name like—"

"_Don't_ say it here! And certainly not in front of others," his grandfather snapped at him, looking almost horrified by the very idea. He shook his head sharply twice and then breathed out roughly, the tension making his entire body tremble briefly, so softly that it was nearly nonexistent. "You must _never_ say a true name like that in front of someone else, Yugi."

"But it's just you and me…"

"Yes, and he's half of you which means it's really only _your_ right to know his true name. Saying it in front of someone else would be an insult to both of you."

Yugi stayed quiet for a long minute and then sighed loudly, deflating. "I don't know how to work with that…"

"You'll figure something out, my boy."

He stared at him, shaking his head slowly, and bunched himself closer together, trying to make himself smaller as a feeling of miserable dread crept through him.

* * *

**And the next chapter is going to be the last. Surprise! Yep Sugoroku knew. And u didn't describe any of the dates in detail and made it all kind of a monotonous blur to fit Yugi's mood and thought process. **

**Also, the belief that names have power is something you can pretty much find anywhere. It was considered to be a great deal of trust for someone to tell someone else their "true name". I think that belief was sort of dropped at some point but most people won't tell you their full name (middle included) so maybe it's not completely gone? Lol Or using your middle name in an introduction could just sound weird Hahaha. There's that too. **

**Also, the way Yugi described Yami to Tea is half-truths he's compiled and things he's also noticed about him since they've been practically sharing the same breathing room and the absence has highlighted them for him more since he misses him so much. So yeah, he's describing him more to put her at ease than anything else. Also, pay attention to some of that. Yugi tends to to be the best liar. It'll come up in later linstallments why this is kind of important. **


	16. Chapter XVI

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything relating to Yu-Gi-Oh**

**Warning: Cursing should be relatively mild but sometimes grows a little more at times, Season 0 Yami...and he's a little more unhinged than usual, so keep that in mind.**

**Note: There are mentions of blood, some graphic images of death, sensual moments and feelings, touches of violence/abuse**

**Update Schedule: No more for this story, it's officially finished~**

**Writing Note: I'm trying a new, more descriptive style for a story I plan to write later so tell me how I did with it?**

**Anyways, the story is a way to help get rid of some writer's block I'm dealing with so it's serving as a style-trial and a way to get back into writing.**

**So I had originally planned not to post this chapter until I had finished the first draft of the sequel and gotten feedback on it to start edits and work on it first. But then I got super impatient and besides that, I'm slightly at a loss with some of the sequel although I know if I just find the right way to mess around with it, I'll pretty much manage to get it done as quickly as I did this (I think, barring the lemon, I finished this story in about a week or two tops? I don't know, I just remember it was not too long lol). Considering the sequel has been sitting around on my computer with only the first chapter finished and managed to write until about three chapters into the second part (it's set up exactly like this one, so eight chapters for both parts) in only two days, I actually think it's not that much of a stretch. I just need to figure out how to phrase a few things, make a couple of scenes work out, and then I'll send it for feedback and then work on edits and get it up again. Wish me luck lol.**

**Dindundon- Wow, I'm definitely flattered that you got so excited for the last chapter~ And I'm glad you thought the plot twist was good lol I actually have planned some interactions between Sugoroku and Yami in a later sequel. I'm predicting the third or fourth, considering the next doesn't have much of the family in it. Actually the friends kind of have to go on the wayside too from what I've got planned. Although, considering how much the stories tend to stretch when I do edits and additional scenes with rough drafts, that might change. I DO know, though, that Yami interacts with Joey and Serenity (fun times, let me tell you lol) and eventually Tristan and Blankey (the German shepherd in the manga, if you don't remember her) so there's that. And a couple of new characters are introduced. It's going to be something a little on the darker side with attitudes and reactions to things (especially a couple of things that Yami does and says). **

**Also, thank you, the title drop is totally meant to give shivers LOL I'm kidding but I'm actually super proud that it affects one of my readers like that ^^ **

**All right, SO! Lemon in this chapter. The chapter's rating is officially MA (Mature Adult). Yugi and Yami get some physical exercise together (I know, I know, it's a long time in coming). Anyways, there are a few mentions of kinks, but nothing is really pointed at or explored. If bondage (it's a brief mention) makes anyone nervous, just remember it's a joke that Yami makes. If masochism (it's also a brief mention****) makes anyone nervous, just remember it's momentary and more teasing than anything else. There are SLIGHT mentions of blood during the lemon, mostly because of some violent reactions on Yami's behalf, and just because it couldn't be _Behind You _without someone getting threatened a bloody end by the deity that is Yami. **

**Also, if anyone considers that the chapter is somehow…unfitting, I guess would be the best word…just remember that since the sequels were planned in advance, each of them might have a similar feeling until the end of it. I'm still not sure how many parts it will have, considering the mini-series seems to suddenly be growing a little longer than I planned, but by the end of it, it'll all seem pretty much wrapped up nicely. There might be loose ends at the end of it because some things are going to be for you guys to decide on your own. Anyways, despite that, technically since this story mostly focuses on their interactions and Yugi coming to terms with all of his feelings concerning Yami, it shouldn't feel incomplete or unfitting, but if it does, yeah, just remember that.**

**TLDR: Chapter is rated MA. Kinks in lemons are mentioned briefly. Sequels were planned in advance, ending might seem strange (but might not also, don't know).**

**Any really bad misplaced or misspelled words are still the work of my autocorrect, by the way . I'm still working the whole 4-app editing process. So much fun.**

Chapter XVI

How did one go about summoning a god?

For over an hour Yugi had been attempting to summon Yami to him, using his name and even going so far as to picture him appearing in front of him. But not once had the red-eyed teen responded to him. His shadow had stretched across the wall and turned so dark it looked as if nighttime had spread in a hideous brushstroke of black, but he did not come. Yugi had watched it multiple times, counting off the seconds it took for it to do so, stretching and darkening, becoming a hideous lash of darkness against sky blue, but it had not brought with it Yami himself. It lasted only as long as it took him to blink, so swift in expression that Yugi almost thought himself foolish for even believing his grandpa's words. He was seated on the bed now, staring at where his shadow had moved to take up the space behind him as the sun crept downwards to give way to its setting.

For what felt like a lifetime he had struggled to come up with a new name to give the other boy, and, having settled on one in particular, now he was unable to even grasp the other's interest. Without a response, the task of trying to bestow some hint of freedom upon him was almost daunting in reality. And then, with that, came the horrible idea that perhaps this would do him so much worse rather than any better. He stumbled through the dark with each attempt, with the entire situation in itself. It was impossible to know if he would make something horrible happen by attempting it without Yami there or if it would be better to do so.

He did not know if Yami even truly understood what it was that he wanted from him, why he needed him to appear there. He did not know if it was because he just didn't care or if he didn't even know what he was attempting to do. He did not know if it was because the other boy could not sense his emotions or even see him from where he seemingly kept watch as his shadow. Perhaps it was more a brief connection to him, loose and weak, which allowed him to come forward the moment something happened, but something had to trigger it first.

Maybe that was even how he had appeared so suddenly when Ushio had cornered him in the alleyway like that. Yugi had no explanation for that, nor for how their connection worked or even if his shadow stretching like that was nothing more than his own imagination. Maybe he was just trying to comfort himself and Yami's statement had been metaphorical…

He did not have words to actually _summon _Yami, he realized, just the name he had bestowed him without meaning to. And, as his grandpa had said, he did not seem to be ruled by whatever power a name possessed. And so, he thought that there must be something else to cause him to come to him. He thought briefly of ancient rituals, of the summoning courtesies of gods in old times. But there were so many and it was so confusing and maybe Yami wasn't even a god to be summoned…

_So come and _find _me_…

Yugi froze in place for a second. His spine tightened and his heart pounded. That familiar mist of chilled air in the back of his mind bit at his senses before it slipped away again immediately. The challenge was clear, intoxicating in its rich baritone pitch, and the small teen laughed softly. So Yami could hear him, was actively listening, probably laughing at each attempt with splendorous amusement. And now, considering it, he realized it was exactly what the stubborn bastard might do to him.

He sighed and headed for the door, listening and knowing that his mom wasn't home but checking anyways. He was far from willing to deal with her if she found him slipping out of the house at six like this. She would not want him to leave the house alone, especially when it was already rapidly becoming dark. If his friends had been there, she might not have cared beyond warning him not to stay out too late, but she would never approve of this. The small teen rolled his eyes and made his way through the door which divided the shop and living space, slipping his shoes on and wandering for the front door. The bell chimed softly as he pulled it open, somehow so familiar that it managed to ground him for a brief second as the Puzzle hit against his abdomen gently.

He didn't have to think about it to know where he was headed. Yami was at the park. It was the only place that made sense now that he considered it. It, aside from the arcade and the alleyway, was the only actual place outside of the house that they had crossed paths. He was not really sure what it was that made Yami choose the park, but he wondered if maybe it was possible he knew the area from his memories. He had been to the park lots of times as a child. But how Yami might have known that was a question within itself, unless he could pick out what little information he found necessary from the memories he dug through.

Now that he wasn't running, there was a strange and conscious realization that came over him. It was strange to be wandering the streets like this. With winter so close, the nights were so much longer, the days almost twice as short. It was only a few minutes after six and the sky had already given birth to ribbons of orange and red, gentle hues of purple and blue. The stars were beginning to peek out in a splash of color equivalent to small glittering diamonds set against navy blue.

The streets were almost silent, though a few stray barks and sometimes the occasional movement could be heard somewhere in the darkness further along. Yugi closed his eyes for a moment, drawing in the smell of cold asphalt and humidity. Snow was going to fall, finally. He could feel it as he continued down the street, a natural instinct telling him it would be a lot stronger than the light dusting the weather channels had predicted.

He opened his eyes again, taking in the way that the streets had darkened in those few seconds. His teeth dug into his cheek, his head turning both ways as he hurried across the street just in case. A dog barked again somewhere ahead of him, a booming noise which traveled well and held his attention for a split second, wondering vaguely if it was headed for him or not. It did not seem to be and the answering barks that came up were different, stronger in the way that they hit the air and made it quiver. He guessed maybe it was a couple of strays somewhere. Domino did have a few of them, though not many.

He took in the trees and the benches that lined the way, the scattered streetlights, and hummed under his breath a soft tune that made him tilt his head. Yugi felt him beneath his skin, in his head, brushing against him with enough force to make him shiver. The secure feeling that came with it made him tremble briefly with relief. His heart skipped as he wandered forward and continued into the trees, drawing in a deep breath to get a taste of the night air. The grass had grown a little sweeter, as if giving off a final aroma before they were swallowed up completely by the winter. It cooled his throat and bit at his skin where he felt like his entire body was being engulfed in fire, feverish and desperate to make contact.

He weaved his way among the trunks, shivering at the touch of cold air that burned through him, the way his clothes felt a little tighter against his skin with the touch of a light breeze. He glanced up, took in the way that the clouds were moving together, as if summoned, starting across the moon, illuminated and bright where it hid behind the thick white. Snow…

He wandered towards the small lake, smiling in amusement but stopping short when he could not see him anywhere. His face fell immediately, head tilting to the side before a new thought occurred to him. He raised his head, craning it almost completely back to look into the branches, and found him there in such a lazy position it made him smile again. The other teen sat with his legs dangling over the edge of the branch, leaning forward with glowing eyes that burned through the growing darkness. He looked so relaxed it seemed almost a crime to even consider that he had been trying to summon him before. The idea of interrupting his peaceful moment made Yugi frown faintly and for a moment the god seemed to mirror the expression. Then, like a cat, he pounced despite the height.

He landed in front of him, a couple of feet away, a loud crunching thud making him blink as he remembered the frozen grass. Yugi took a moment to watch him, see the way he breathed easily and eyed him without much expression. But he did not seem angry, and that was what had worried the smaller teen the most as he studied him. Those red eyes had grown narrow, darkening faintly, but still the relaxation in his body did not change, as if the cold was beautiful and alluring to him.

He stepped forward, fighting back laughter when Yami twitched at the lip, threatening to curl it back for a brief second. Then he moved faster, almost quick enough that he was running in that split second it took to get to him again. His arms wrapped around him immediately, awkward because the god did not move to hug him back and so his limbs were trapped against his body with the position. He buried his face in his chest, closing his eyes tightly and smelling that strange, intoxicating scent of moonlight and darkness, of ice and winter itself.

The other boy was completely still against him. His entire body was so wired for a second he thought he might lash out and send him flying. He vibrated faintly with a growing snarl, and then his arms moved. His hands found his hip and ribcage and he winced when he squeezed painfully on the bones under his fingers. He stepped back, not inclined to make him further uncomfortable, and allowed him to extend his arms enough that he was at their length when he released them. His red eyes flickered and trailed over his frame for a moment, as if he were unsure of what to do more. His head tilted slightly, his mouth quirked downwards faintly, and he huffed softly as he narrowed his eyes.

"You came for a reason," he growled, voice crisp and dark, as if he were personally offended Yugi had ever thought to touch him in the first place.

"Yami no Yugi," Yugi announced, nodding slightly and starting to move forward again. To his amusement, in an act not the least bit surprising, Yami steeled his arms and held him back there, lip curling again. He snorted, unable to help himself, and the god gave him an annoyed look before rolling his eyes. "That's what I think I should call you. That way, just in case I ever forget, I'll know just how much I've recently fucked up."

The other teen blinked at him, narrowing his eyes into thin slits of dark gleaming jewels. "To remind you of our bond, not the fact that you _fucked up_," he growled after a long moment, voice distasteful as he wrinkled his nose at him and watched him closely as if he thought he might lunge forward at any second. But, abruptly, his attention split and his head snapped around, sniffing several times in curiosity. "I'll remind you of that plenty."

"I don't doubt you will," he said truthfully, smiling softly at the taller teen who was breathing in deeper and furrowing his brows in apparent confusion. Yugi searched his face for a moment when he glanced at him, the red eyes questioning him but gaining nothing as he stared back. His head tipped up, staring straight upwards at the sky, the thick white clouds, flexing his fingers along Yugi's shoulders as he moved their position, nails gently scratching at his skin.

"Yu didn't even make it a week," the other boy scoffed, attention back on him and fingers squeezing gently so that his nails bit into his skin more fully to rival the chill of the night air. His lips pulled back into the widest of smirks, showing off his teeth even in the darkness, and his voice lowered into a sneer of pure laughter. "You made it all of five days into this month. And one of the last."

"Yeah, and we had a deal," he agreed, smiling when he saw his eyes narrow slightly. He nodded once and tilted his head fractionally, watching him closely. "You won, Yami."

"I don't know if I should call it weak or smart that you've bowed down to your most primal instincts."

"I think it goes both ways, actually. But I'm sure we'll find out soon enough, right?" he muttered softly, chewing his cheek and staring at him for a long minute. He moved to scratch his arm, watching the way Yami folded his expression into one of pure cynical amusement. "Because maybe after this you aren't going to have to rely on me anymore, right? Maybe you can go ahead and kill me, right?"

Yami let out a low purr, sounding so satisfied with the idea that Yugi laughed at the unapologetic happiness that suddenly lit his eyes. "Ah, yes, retribution for trapping me here," he rumbled, shivering and smirking widely to show off his teeth. "Won't that be beautiful?"

He shrugged slightly and glanced at the snowflake that drifted past Yami's face; the other teen stopped short, spinning on it with an openly confused expression. He stared at where it had landed, watching it melt into the ground, and then bristled as his eyes shot up to regard more of them as they drifted through the air. Yugi smiled in amusement as those sharp red eyes grew as wide as full moons, startled as he jerked backwards momentarily when a flake landed on his nose.

There was no anger to be found in him, however, Yugi realized as he tried to sort through some of the emotion where it overlapped between them. Yami was merely stunned, so much so that he was unable to keep it off his face. It was apparent he had no idea what was going on, but that he was clearly surprised that the flake had not harmed him in any way as it touched his skin.

"What the fuck is…?"

"It's a little early for snow," the smaller teen commented, reaching a hand out and catching a flake in his palm, feeling it melt instantly and shivering at the feel of it. "Normally it comes in early January further up north here, but it normally drifts through later in the month. It _sometimes _comes around the middle of February, near Valentine's Day and White Day but hey, I don't have any complaints. I love snow. And, hey, if this is the last time I ever see it, then it's good enough."

Yami tilted his head and wrinkled his nose, cross-eyed as another landed and stayed there, not quite melting for what seemed like several long minutes. Yugi forced himself to take such a sight in stride, fighting off the alarm that immediately crept through him, and reached up to run a hand through his hair. The other teen had such little body warmth that the snowflake was clearly able to remain perfectly intact upon his skin and the idea of it made his heart hurt. But, he supposed, it might have been possible for the two of them to raise his temperature somehow, if what he had thought he felt on the mattress beside him one of the nights Yami had left early was true. He had been warmer some of those nights, even leaving small bits of heat in the sheets, however faint it was. If he could convince him to stay longer—whether by offering sex or not—he might be able to get his body warm enough that it seemed almost human.

The thought made him bristle, however, and he was surprised by the sudden sting of ferocity that made his insides alight. He didn't want Yami to change, no matter how small it was, and the idea of something as apparent as his body heat being changed made his stomach twist.

"You won't have to worry about my body heat, Yugi, because if I can kill you, I will," Yami cut into his thoughts effectively, eyes flashing cruelly as his attention fell solely on him once more, burning with mocking laughter and hatred. "I won't even think about it. I will kill you without so much as a blink."

"I didn't think you would. Do it if you can."

He stared and tilted his head, narrowing his eyes into slits. "You keep saying things like that. Why?"

"Because I agree with your reasoning. I did this to you. And you're half of me, aren't you?" Yugi asked calmly, shaking his head with a small smile. "I can't honestly argue with someone who is literally a part of me. Besides, I don't want to have you place your own existence in harm's way just because of me. I would rather you kill me than have to do that. I've already trapped you here and I…I'm so sorry, Yami…"

The smaller teen bowed his head, voice coming out cracked and heavily broken, shattering into a thick swallowing sob of a noise. The other teen was frozen for a long minute, merely staring at him as if he were an unidentifiable entity before him. Then, long fingers grasped his chin, tilting it upwards despite the small hint of resistance the smaller boy gave him. When one of the tears touched his skin, his lips curled back, but the warmth dissipated almost immediately in the cold air, and left him with a pleasant tingling sensation.

"Why the fuck are you crying?" he snapped viciously, bristling as the other boy watched him through his lashes. He was petulant, _so_ petulant, because he didn't understand, because he was scared of his tears and didn't know how to deal with them… "Stop crying."

"I…I'm just so sorry."

"Get over it. I don't care for your apology. I care for your death."

Yugi nearly laughed before he closed his eyes, a few more tears leaking out as he shook his head. "You're so simple-minded when it comes to that, but whenever I see you dealing with something else, you seem so much more complex and dangerous with your thoughts."

"Don't flatter yourself," he spat, curling his lips back and baring his teeth as his eyes narrowed further. "I only want one thing from you. The rest of this pathetic world is useless to me aside from striking my curiosity and making me think."

"That's good, I guess."

Yami scoffed loudly but wrinkled his nose at another snowflake, glancing around at the falling crystals. "And this happens…every year?"

"It's going to be a few inches this time around," Yugi muttered, glancing around curiously and taking in how many flakes passed through the air. Yami still had not released his shoulders, he realized as he attempted to turn and look towards the lake for a brief second. "It's going to have to be—otherwise it wouldn't be this cold or falling this fast."

"Lovely," the other snorted, though it sounded far less harsh than he must have meant it, his curiosity bleeding through and fighting away every ounce of bitterness. His eyes were wider, gleaming with something so unusual on his expression that Yugi was almost too stunned to name it as the delight it truly was. He watched him closely, eyes softening, and found himself smiling as the red gaze flickered back forth every which way, growing a little wider each time one of them touched his skin. Some of the snow was beginning to fall in clumps larger than others and the way it caressed his skin was enticing, deceptively beautiful as it distracted him from the other boy.

For a long twenty minutes they remained like this. Yugi's skin was too hot to even truly take in the chill that the air offered where it should have been biting him like a dog's teeth, sharp and cunning and puncturing. The flakes melted against his skin in a way that seemed unnaturally swift, as if the air around him was too warm for them to last, and the thought struck a small bit of sorrow into his system. If this was truly to be the last time he ever touched snow, he thought it was a somewhat miserable experience where it should have been joyful.

"I do not think this will be your final time encountering snow," Yami murmured quietly, tilting his head towards him and watching him keenly. "I doubt that this experience between us will render me independent of you—if there is even a possibility in the first place."

"Do you ever wonder how long it will take?" the smaller teen asked, searching the dark gaze of ruby and blood, the starburst pupils of cold, bottomless darkness. "I mean, how long it will take for you to be able to get rid of me and no longer have to rely on me?"

"Every second of every day. You have no idea the joy it will bring me when I can slit your throat and have no worry of repercussions."

Yugi smiled slightly and shook his head slowly, watching his face. "I'm sure I can't," he agreed after a moment. "You seem to experience emotions at a stronger degree than I ever will."

"Yes, and your emotions spike like your energy when around me," Yami purred in amusement. "It's almost a punishment for you, don't you think? Having to stumble through it all like this?"

"…It's a lot different from what I'm honestly used to," he admitted, frowning. "But I don't think that it's a punishment. Maybe a painful truth, but not a punishment."

"Take the joy out of the experience," he sneered. "Nice."

He shook his head and looked at one of the flakes, a much larger one that seemed to be a clump of them rather than singular. He felt it against his skin for a single second, watching it melt immediately, and then turned back to him. "I was kind of expecting us to be doing something else…" he admitted with a frown, watching him as he swallowed hard and steeled himself slightly at the idea.

"I was not aware you were in such a hurry," Yami snapped, smirking and lifting his head with wildly amused eyes. "Who knew?"

"I told you. I'm a sixteen-year-old boy. We are all about sex. We live for it."

"Even the virgins?"

"_Especially _the virgins." He paused for a split second. "_Now_, how about you and I go back to the house a—?"

Yugi felt as if something had been forcefully ripped out of him. A cavity was left inside of him, bleeding and sore from where it had once resided. His head felt so light he thought he might collapse. His heart was racing so fast he knew it was skipping beats. His lungs constricted hard enough to almost make him pant. His bones rattled and shook beneath his skin, echoing loudly in his ears. His eyes burned as if he had been exposed to chemicals for too long. He fell backwards as if hit with sudden wind. His skin felt feverish, and sweat bloomed on his forehead as his ass collided with the ground.

"I was unsure how that would affect you, but I am glad I did it. That look on your face was worth the extra bit of magic," Yami purred, smirking widely. The smaller boy stared up at him, breathless and blinking with a dazed expression. "Guess where we are, little game."

He did not have to look around. He recognized the way that Yami seemed somewhat unnerved. He saw it in the way that warm air made the snow lingering on the other boy's body melt. "We're in my room. And…you still seem to think the walls will close in on us at any moment," he replied weakly, voice croaking. The other boy gave him a delighted look at the painful toss of his voice. He reached up, rubbing at his throat and then his temple. "Fucking hell, Yami, why couldn't you have warned me?"

"That is a mouthful of a curse. I did not think I would get something like _that _out of you," he chuckled in open amusement, eyes gleaming as he nudged his shoe with his own. "Just lay on your back for a few minutes. Otherwise you're going to be in pain for a while. You weren't built for shadow travel."

The smaller teen failed to make a wise crack at the first part of his second statement and instead fell back. "Shadow travel?" he echoed instead, watching the blue of his ceiling as it seemed to twist and writhe for a split second before settling. He groaned softly, the bleeding sore somewhere inside of him pulsating with pain.

"I would think it was self-explanatory with a name like that," the other spat, a small sneer lingering at the edge of his words. Yugi closed his eyes, ignoring his condescension, and waited for some of that strained dizziness to start to loosen its hold on him. He could hear Yami's movement, his footfalls soft and almost nonexistent but for tiny tremors where his weight pressed into the floor. He could not tell the exact direction, but he thought he was at the desk, though for what reason he couldn't name.

Yami was indeed in front of it. His face was angled downwards, his eyes glittering with hatred. Before him, the silver of the metal reflected the image of exactly what it was that he had expected to find there.

There was a somewhat sharp yet somehow blurred outline of his physique without true definition. It was almost black but bordered more closely the deepest of grays that could ever exist. Flickering ribbons of the monotonous color twisted away from the core shape. He thought of wisps of smoke, like drifting flickers of blackness. Two narrowly cut garnets of burning, glowing red met his eyes with sharp intensity. He opened his mouth, flexing his jaw thoughtfully, and watched it. His lips parted in the reflection as well, teeth jagged lines and his insides a hideous blood red.

So caught up in his own investigation, he had not realized he had projected his hatred to the other teen. Watching his mouth move again, insides quivering with loathing, the other missed it as Yugi padded over quietly to join him. He stood a couple of inches from him, so as not to spook him with his own reflection there, and watched as the darkness writhed in front of them both.

"So that's what you look like in the mirror," Yugi whispered before he could stop himself. It seemed abruptly to make sense why Yami had smashed the glass, why he had seen those shapes in the shards left behind that day. He glanced at him from the corner of his eye, curious, but the other merely turned to face him and snarled softly, voice low and dangerous.

"I thought I told you to lie down."

"You did. I laid down. But you've been standing here for a few minutes," the smaller muttered, turning back to his reflection and reaching out as if he could touch the darkness there. What he came in contact with, however, was the predictable chill of the metal, his hand severing the reflection but not enough for Yami's satisfaction. "I thought I would check on you."

"As if I need you to—"

"I know you don't need me to," he interrupted, turning his head and facing him with a frown. "But I got worried so I did it anyways."

"Why? Why do you always worry about things that don't concern you?" Yami snarled coldly, voice dipping low enough that it resonated in Yugi's bones and made his insides quiver. For a moment, leaning forward, he thought the other teen would lash out violently, that maybe he would think this entire plan damned and kill them both with a strike of his nails. But, then, possibly because he was listening in or maybe because he was simply too angry to face him any longer, he pulled away from the desk and started to the bed. "Take off that fucking Puzzle too. I do not want a repetition of the last time I ran into that piece of shit trinket."

Yugi could not help the small laugh that bubbled out, looking down at his own reflection for a moment and wishing for a split second that he might share Yami's pain. He almost wished he had never come to know his own face so well that he would never have to question what it looked like at any given time. The fact was that it was such a simple thing taken so fully for granted and seeing someone unable to do the same made his heart hurt. Briefly he wished he could do the same as the other boy and maybe share his eyesight with him as they had in the alley, but he was not powerful or magical. He was just a sixteen-year-old, who had made a mistake and brought into the mix a creature far too great to remain there.

The thought was somber enough that he swallowed hard to fight back a new rush of pain. Instead, fingers shaking faintly, he slipped the chain over his neck and pushed it onto the desk. The soft thud of it made him shiver as the gold chilled against his fingers as he pushed it away slowly. He closed his eyes for a second and then turned his head and glanced over at him, searching his face.

"Does your reflection…always look like that?"

The other teen stiffened for a split second, head snapping towards him as his lips curled into a snarl. "Does it matter?"

"…No, I guess not. I just can't really…imagine."

"No one asked you to!" Yami spat viciously, eyes flashing wildly. "No one once asked you to stretch that pathetic little mind of yours to try to comprehend that! I don't need you attempting to sympathize with me. I do not care for your pity."

"I don't pity you. You're too strong for that," Yugi muttered, shaking his head. "I just…if I were in your situation, I don't think I could survive it."

"I don't care."

"I know you don't." He paused for a moment and then shook his head before moving towards him, watching the way that the other teen breathed harshly and bared his teeth for a moment. "I wouldn't in your place either."

"But you're not. You're not in my—"

His fury made his insides twist. And Yugi could not help but feel overwhelmed by it for a moment. He ignored the flight instinct that tried to claim him. The action he took was so stupid it could have gotten him killed if not for the double-edged reality it held for the god in front of him.

He sprang forward, ignoring him, and grabbed his jaw. His thumbs rubbed over his cheeks as he leaned forward. Yami fell silent immediately, as the smaller boy knew he would. Though they stared at each other, and he had the chance to continue, he merely watched him with cold eyes. He was not one to speak when it was clear he was wasting his breath. Instead he merely watched and then closed his eyes, complying with his demands as his lips pressed against his.

From the speed of the movement, though they had paused, was an awkwardness that made Yugi feel all his inexperience well up inside of him. Porn made everything look so easy. And books made everything seem as if it was magical and fun. But reality was more terrifying than it was graceful like written word. In his desperation to quell Yami's growing enragement, he had forgotten the implications of what he was doing, and it came to him that maybe he wasn't as ready as he had thought.

But it was the only way he could think to make Yami feel better, and he would be damned if he left him to suffer longer than necessary because he was a little scared.

Yami opened his mouth for him despite the awkwardness as Yugi pressed gently against his knees with his own. The teen was bristling and the smaller boy could feel it, the loathing at the idea that he was being so gentle with him as if he might break, but neither could change it. There was no argument to be had that could change the perception of the situation, nor would Yugi admit to it willingly.

He pressed more of his weight against him. A hand lowered from his cheek to touch his hip and he squeezed lightly with his fingers. The bone was hard and sharp beneath his skin, almost as jagged as a knife's blade, and he shivered at the way the reality seemed to swallow him whole. It was sturdy and cruel, bearing down on him like teeth.

He knew well enough from health class that the other teen was underweight, though not how badly. His skin was rough where it should have been soft. His demeanor was still dangerous as opposed to the gentleness he was attempting to push between them, trying to make the other experience.

It came to him then that Yami might feel his emotions, but they did not swell and burst in him as they did Yugi. Whereas his temperament fluctuated and flexed a total control over his, the small teen did not think he could boast the same.

And though he thought he would never have wanted to do it to another person, he was growing even further fearful. Yami was not relaxing and his tension was making his mind spin. His heart felt as if it might pound straight out of his chest. He struggled, trying his hardest to think of a new way to come over his idea of easing the stiffness from the other boy, and then found himself faltering.

_Flip us over_, Yami snarled into his mind, the tone softer than what he might have expected. It was warmer than he had ever heard it before, in a blatant attempt to meet him halfway but without the true knowledge of how to do so. The smaller teen hesitated, pulling back to look at him. The red eyes were wide open, burning into his harshly, so uncomfortable that his pupils almost seemed to quiver, but he was still trying, and the sentiment was enough to make him feel better. But still, unable to think further, he opened his mouth twice and then shook his head briefly.

"I—"

For a moment there were so many words in his mouth that he could not breathe them out. He waited for a second, struggling to force even one more out, and then shook his head again. He cut himself off a third time, somehow unsurprised by the fact that Yami merely watched him with sharp eyes.

He kicked his shoes off in an attempt to dispel some of his nervousness, drew in a deep breath, and stepped away once. In his periphery, as his eyes focused on the bed more fully, the other boy had grown still in confusion and was rapidly beginning to bristle with annoyance. He ignored it, the way his eyes grew cold and furious, burning into his skin, and instead made his way to the pillows in a quick crawl. He fell back against the mattress and watched the other boy, wishing for a moment that he had been able to make Yami understand better what he had been attempting to coax him to do moments before. The red-eyed teen tilted his head curiously, and the smaller boy smiled simply, reaching a hand out for him in invitation. The anger had dissipated completely, but a new unease began to creep through them both as he hesitated and then followed his lead by kicking his shoes off and moving to straddle him.

For a moment, fearful, Yugi grasped at his shirt, fisting the material in anxiety and hoping that Yami did not think he was trying to hurt him in any way. His stomach was just twisting so hard and his heart was skipping so forcefully that it made him sway for a brief second. It seemed so utterly natural, as if predetermined by thousands of years, but it still made him quake as the other teen remained still, watching him for a signal to move again. When he released him, shuddering once, the red-eyed boy watched him for a long moment before moving to press his weight more fully into the mattress and gain a better sense of balance.

There was no heat to be given from the other teen, only his aura which cloaked the air like mist, and he it was cold enough that he could not resist another shiver. But, for the moment, the other teen was not paying full attention to him. Yugi was stunned by how comforting his distraction was, how eagerly he took this chance to attempt to steel himself further. Yami was scraping his nails over the fabric of the comforter, listening to the scratching noise with a distant expression, and a small purr escaped him in the still air. Both of them felt the sense of peace that came with the familiarity of the small noise in a situation was hardly the same.

Yugi reached up to grip at the right lapel of his jacket, feeling the thin material that made up the school uniform he so often wore. It let out its own soft rustling noise, familiar and warm against his racing mind, and he thought of it as keenly as a second skin with how often he donned it. It was a shade darker, almost purple where it was placed in relationship to Yami's golden-bronze skin tone, but it was still the same in design and material.

The movement, he found as he looked away, had caught Yami's attention to make him focus on him once more. He was peering at him, gaze curious and yet somehow encompassed with a knowledge that looked old and ancient, with such power it made him breathless for a split second. He studied him for a long moment and then lowered his face to press into his neck, breathing out so steadily it seemed almost mystifying that it lacked as much body heat as it did. His skin was burning, heated so much that the red-eyed teen's felt as frosty as ice, and the faint warmth of his exhales was laced with such chill it made his body rebel slightly with a twitch.

"Why are you so cold?" he muttered, allowing himself a moment to close his eyes and grow used to the sensation. "I thought darkness had at least a little warmth to it…"

"No, the darkness is cold. It's always cold. There's nothing to warm it. But…you have more than enough heat to survive it, don't you?" he growled against his throat, his lashes tickling him as he closed his eyes as if to brace himself. "Just a little chill…"

"You like winter though, don't you?"

"I was born in the summer. I'm a wimp for warmth," he mumbled, shivering again while Yami snickered into his skin and then pressed his tongue against his pulse point as if tasting it through the thin layer of flesh. He closed his eyes, trying his hardest to embrace the sensation of it, but his mind shied away from the chill and he found himself feeling slightly queasy for a brief second. He wondered, however, if maybe the other boy could draw warmth from him like this. He reached his free hand up to touch his shoulder, moving his palm down his back to the bottom of the blade there, feeling the sharp jagged bone under his fingertips.

It was startling, how Yami's shoulders were broad but the bone so terribly narrow beneath his fingers. The arch of it was small, gentle almost, and it fell into a sharp and prominent, beautiful collarbone. The muscle on his arm was taut and wiry and the way it bunched when he shifted his weight was so pleasant he nearly forgot himself in the sensation.

Yugi trembled and Yami purred at the feeling, the way that his body shook beneath him even as he clung to his jacket and tightened his grip further. After all of the fighting, they were both bending to each other, desperate and frail, fragile like two jagged pieces of glass. There was no fight in him or hatred to warm his blood at the moment, and the small teen was all willing despite his nerves.

He was sweating, feverish, and Yami was still so cold, though now it was pleasurable as perspiration misted against the teen's tongue and he trailed a lick up the side of his neck. He reveled in it, head dropping back and a low, hoarse noise slipping from his throat, spine arching and pressing their bodies closer together. The blunt nails of his free hand dug into his skin, drawing small lines of pink in a way that made his own back arch like a feline's. For a moment, neither moved, enjoying the reactions they elicited from the other, and then Yami scraped his nails over his side, bunching the material of his shirt. He pulled it upwards when there was no objection, and Yugi was stunned when he found the other teen's face pressed against his chest.

He could feel the muscle beating against his cheek as he situated his ear against his breast. It was somewhat shaken with the new movement, but it came back with a new strength. Listening to it was hypnotizing and melodic, almost intoxicating for a brief moment. Then he pulled away, running his tongue over his skin again, delighted that he felt as if he could almost taste his blood and experienced the way the muscle trembled.

Yugi flushed, breath coming out in a loud pant, shaky but not at all scared though still somewhat nervous, and he sat up to allow Yami more room to pull the jacket off his arms. For a moment, holding the piece of clothing in his hand, the teen made no movement more than to watch him, and the sensation was so eerie he nearly snapped at him. But he realized belatedly that it was not his skin he was so focused on but more the lines of his veins, the intricate weavings of purple and dark blue there. He was memorizing them, it seemed, or maybe just using them as a way of getting over his own nerves should he have any.

He arched his hips, rubbing slightly against his strained erection with the movement, and the taller teen shifted minutely at the touch of their pelvic bones. He sat up slightly, just enough to pull his shirt over his head, and dropped the thin layer of cotton onto the floor next to the bed. He expected the other to have done something similar but he found himself instead looking the jacket in his hands over as if curiously. A moment passed and Yugi furrowed his brows as, instead of dropping it, he began to stretch the sleeves to their fullest, tugging them gently as if testing how far he could make them reach.

"What are you doing with the jacket?"

"I am going to tie you up with it," he stated without hesitation.

The smaller boy froze in place and opened and closed his mouth. His eyes had grown owlish, staring at him in something akin absolute horror at the very suggestion. "W-what?" he squeaked before shaking his head and blinking at him. "No, oh, hell no, you are not."

Yami looked at him for a moment beneath his lashes, pulling again as his lips stretched into a wide smirk so beautiful and dangerous it could have put the devil to shame. "Funny that you only fear me when I threaten to tie you up," he quipped, leaning forward slightly. "Tell me, Yugi, do you think if you're not tied up you'll have a chance if I decide I want you dead?"

"No. I'm just not into the whole bondage thing," Yugi stated truthfully, shivering and then snatching the jacket out of his hands. The other teen did not so much as blink, instead merely smirking widely and watching him with mocking eyes. He dropped it to the floor, blinking again, and then found himself frowning as he recalled there had been zero resistance. "And you never planned to tie me up in the first place."

"No. I planned for skin on skin contact with your hands on me," Yami snorted dismissively, rolling his eyes and then peering at him curiously as he tilted his head to the side. "You truly are a slight little thing."

He would have snapped at him had the comment not been so innocent and curious. It was not in the slightest critical and it was reassuring to see that his companion did not find it necessary to sneer at him now. It would have been so easy for him to take his nervousness and run with it, completely destroy him if he wanted to. It was more beneficial to him not to do such a thing, but, as he watched him, he didn't think Yami had even slightly considered saying it negatively. He was simply making the statement. He was just saying what he already knew, that he was small.

"Are you sure you don't need to eat?" Yugi asked before he could stop himself. The fingers that had moved to begin weaseling his belt buckles and button paused, halting completely. For a moment the other boy processed the statement, and then his eyes narrowed as he looked at him in clear confusion and impatience. "I mean, you're just…you're really skinny and I don't think that being around me is going to fix it…"

"If it will silence you, I will begin eating," the other teen sneered viciously, rolling his eyes and fixing him with a cold expression. The smaller boy could have hit himself for all the good his concern had done. A soft sigh left him. He had just insulted him without even meaning to. Yami was bristling and furious, though that had not changed how easily he worked on his task of seduction. He ignored him when he sent an apology, knowing he could hear him, and instead leaned forward with his hands pressed over his chest. His fingers felt along his ribs for a moment, brushing his nipples, and then his nails ran over his stomach to make him shiver.

"Ooh," he muttered under his breath, a little curl of a moan seeping out of his mouth as he licked his lips and looked him over. The other teen ignored him again before starting to slip his jeans off his hips, pulling them away so that he could expose more of his skin. He paused and Yugi felt his cheeks growing bright, though he did not think it was embarrassment that made them do so as the other teen licked his lips. His nervousness had faded somewhere along the way, he realized, and now he was simply aroused and growing somewhat impatient.

"Well, at least you aren't slight here," Yami commented, smirking widely as he pulled his boxers off. Yugi raised his legs some to help him pull them all the way off and then watched him kick them away with his knee. His eyes were caught on his erection, surprising him somewhat, but he felt a warm pride fill his veins for a moment at the way he licked his lips again and purred. "Then I would truly be disappointed."

"Wouldn't want that," Yugi snorted. It was a soft quip but it came out husky and amused as he looked him over before lightly tugging on his jacket to pull him closer. It was somehow surprising to him that Yami had not slipped out of his range at any time while undressing him. He had kept close enough that he would be able to hold his jacket, to feel his stunning lack of body heat, to keep a grip on his shoulder where the bone was still sharp but smooth. "Are you actually going to lose your clothes at some point or what?"

"Hmm?" he muttered distractedly, blinking at him with a tilt of his head. For a brief second he seemed almost inclined to argue, his lips curling faintly before he blinked again. Yugi thought for a second that he might just call it quits and give him another orgasm instead, but finally he slipped out of his reach like sand between his fingers. The smaller boy propped himself up on his elbows, watching him, head tilted as his eyes locked with the other's for a moment. It was somehow disappointing that he did not do anything more than strip as if simply changing clothes. It was not the least bit erotic as he had hoped, and he could hear Yami laughing under his breath, in his head. He was snickering visibly even as he undid his belt buckles and pulled his pants down, kicking them off and following up with his boxers.

He was not all sure what it was he had expected—if he was expecting anything at all, really—but it was comforting to see that Yami still looked so much like him. He was a little bigger, but not much, and he definitely did not have an erection like those guys in porn tapes. And he was not ashamed to admit just how relieved he was at the very thought that he wasn't. He was almost one hundred percent sure he would not stretch that way, not for twelve inches in length and similarly in girth. He was pretty sure that would have ended up with him impaling his intestines and that hardly seemed comfortable. And besides that, he was pretty sure that they were just props. Or…at least he really hoped they were because if they were real it seemed horrifying to have that exist in their pants…

"That's…an odd take on sex," Yami commented wryly, raising a brow at him. Yugi merely smiled at him, shaking his head, and reached his arm out with his hand open in invitation again. It was the most comforting action he could take without making it all too obvious. The other teen didn't hesitate this time. He was on the bed again in seconds, straddling him as he had before, and the blue-violet-eyed boy moved to embrace his shoulder with his right palm. He massaged at the skin while Yami hissed softly and moved his mouth to his throat.

"Have you…done this before?"

He stayed quiet for a long time and then roughly snapped, "I don't know. Most likely not. Why should I have? Your species is a miserable one. I would hardly wish to immerse myself within it."

"Hmm…I don't think I know of a god in mythology that hasn't had sex before."

"Well then, here's your first, yes?"

Yugi hummed in the back of his throat, stretching against him like a satisfied cat as his lips moved over his skin. The movement made him growl softly and the tension from his question vanished as if it had never existed. His lips were little touches of a light chill, ghosting through him in gossamer touches and making him breathe roughly once. It burned him, little bites of soft pleasure that made him tremble as he moved along his collarbones and stopped to press his nose into his throat. Then his tongue came out again, licking at the indent between his clavicles where a small pool of sweat had gathered.

Fever, fever, fever…

He shivered and hissed, slightly uncomfortable for a split second as Yami's erection bumped into his hip and leaked pre-cum. He licked his lips, swallowing hard, and fought back another small shiver. He was still so cold, all hard flesh even as he felt his tongue running over his sweaty skin and dwelled on the chill he gave off which soothed at frayed nerves he didn't recognize. The taller teen continued to move his tongue over his skin, a distraction that Yugi was drowning in before he felt his finger circle his ring of muscle.

It was enough to make him jump and Yami paused but the reaction was not of patience. Instead, startled by his jerk, his mouth had opened and Yugi could feel his canines pressing lightly against his skin as if he were going to tear his jugular. The moment passed almost immediately, however, and his tongue continued before the pad of his finger stroked softly.

Yugi shivered again and sucked in a harsh breath from between his teeth, moving to spread his legs more fully to give him better access. The tip of his index finger brushed several times, and his nail was as smooth and cold as glass where it touched him. He moaned, squirming, and the taller teen pushed it into him just enough that it did not breach the muscle but teased his entrance. He shivered again, gripping tightly to his shoulders, and dug his blunt nails into Yami's skin as his own pre-cum oozed onto his belly.

His other hand moved to his hip, gripping his skin there, pressing the heel of his palm against his bone. The smaller teen licked his lips and squeezed his eyes shut tightly, trying his hardest to brace himself. But a new fear was clawing at his insides and it was harder to think straight and attempt to relax, almost rendering him immobile with panic. He breathed out roughly, surprised that he could even force his lungs to expel, and nearly trembled with this overwhelming cold flare that claimed him. His body, so tightly wound, did not even register for a moment that Yami was not moving above him.

But it did register the sharp, hideous pain that shot through him abruptly. For a moment he thought maybe he had skipped preparation altogether, and then his brain sorted where it was the wounds seemed inflicted. He swallowed a scream, baring his teeth, and grunted out a weak breath as he recognized nails digging into his skin and his hip gripped so tightly it felt his bones might crack. And he realized, eyes still shut tightly, that the other boy had clawed at him, was _still _clawing at him, and his nails threatened to break skin, to spill blood.

The noise came out strangled in the back of his throat, almost silent but for that small thread of sound that he couldn't stop from escaping. His heart skipped and rattled and it took him a moment to realize the new depth of the situation as it crept over him slowly. Yami's teeth were scraping along his jugular again, his breaths coming out so rapidly he feared he was hyperventilating, his entire body taut like a bowstring at the touch of sharp gusts of cold air. His canine was lowered now, pressing against his throat and crawling upwards, and he cried out again, horrified. The skin had split, though not deeply, but it was still enough to burn and make him hiss and tense up further. It came to him that he needed to stop him, to tell him to knock it off, that he wasn't trying to kill him, but it seemed impossible and his mouth wouldn't form the words.

His mind spiraled and dipped, his stomach following suit. For a moment he thought of how wrong it would be to turn back on his deal and then of how he didn't want to be considered a wimp by the other teen.

"Ow, _ow_!" Yugi yelped, grabbing at his shoulders tightly with his fingers again. He jerked, twisting his lower body, and it shook Yami of his grip on his hip enough that it caught his attention. He pushed on his skin, staring up at him, and panted raggedly as if the entirety of the movement had caused him to lose his breath. "Stop!"

Yami stared back at him coldly. His eyes were lit by a vibrant and dangerous frustration, impatience and mounting confusion. A weariness was eagerly eating away the rest of the expression in his eyes, and he was unsure of what he was doing exactly. The other teen stared at him with a scowl, and both of them breathed out harshly as if trying to challenge the other to see who was more undone by it all.

Yugi shook his head, sighing softly, and mumbled, "Okay, you're freaking out. _Why _are you freaking out, Yami?"

He opened his mouth, then closed it so sharply that the air reverberated with his teeth as they clicked together. He huffed through his nose loudly enough that the smaller teen tilted his head, staring up at him in open confusion, his frustration swept away instantly.

"Why are you freaking out?"

"I don't know, I don't fucking _know_!" Yami snarled angrily, breathing out hard and glaring up at him with a shiver. "If I fucking knew, I wouldn't be freaking out anymore, now _would_ I?"

Yugi blinked and then looked him over before reaching up to touch his face. The other teen started to pull away at first but stopped at the last second. For a moment he eyed his hand warily and then the next his cheek pressed into his fingers, allowing him to run them over his cold skin. They stared at one another, unsure between the two of them, and the seconds seemed to pass in sluggish movements.

He wasn't sure of what to do, how to comfort him, but he did know that if he allowed him to go further, he would end up hurting him and thus himself. The idea was unappealing in every sense, and he could see it in those red eyes that he was unimpressed by the thought as well. He might have wanted to kill him when it was all over, but for now he had no desire whatsoever to hurt him. The tension in his shoulders was still apparent under his other hand, all of his frustration and nerves which made him cranky and impatient, pushing away all of his calm from before.

"All right," he murmured softly. He nodded slightly, giving him a small, gentle smile, and watched as the other blinked at him in confusion. "Okay, roll us over."

The confusion swept away, replaced by raw distrust. His eyes narrowed, his lip curled faintly. "What?" he growled, voice low and guttural, as if he might spring forward and tear his throat out despite himself.

"Come on, Yami, roll us over. You know I'm not going to hurt you," he coaxed softly, running a hand over his cheek and down to his chin, watching him as he leaned subconsciously into the touch. "Just roll us over and relax, okay?"

The red-eyed teen looked at him as if he had just spoken another language and could not fully understand what it was that he wanted. His eyes narrowed further and Yugi felt the muscles bunch beneath his fingers as his jaw began to work. He looked as if he were puzzling it out, struggling, and might spit at him in his growing frustration. There was no trust in his expression, none at all to cushion his clear hesitation, and the smaller boy felt his heart ache at the sight. He looked so clearly troubled, as if he were at war with his need to take his energy and his own distrust to give him power over the situation.

The seconds passed in swift beats. Yugi felt his heart hammering after what seemed like agonizingly long minutes of no action. It occurred to him that Yami could simply pin him there and do whatever he wanted, take and take until there was nothing left. And he saw it in his eyes that he understood that too, that more than once it was considered.

Then, abruptly, as if he were unable to do more than stiffly clench at his skin, he moved. His hand slid under his back swiftly. His other braced against the mattress. The movement was so fast when he tossed them both sideways that Yugi didn't have time to even wrap his legs around his waist. He jostled sideways, nearly falling over, and then scrabbled for a grip on the comforter. His head spun, almost as badly as when he had dragged him into the room using his magic earlier. He panted, struggling to regain his sense of balance, and blinked at the other teen.

The red-eyed boy was bristling, snarling so softly it was nearly nonexistent in the dead air between them. Yugi breathed out a small sigh, relieved that he did not look more than just stressed, that he had not hurt himself in any way. Rather, his chest was rising and falling in measured movements, showing his harsh anxiety and anger, and he bared his teeth at him for a moment.

It was not surprising that he was probably just as insecure about it as he was. He had admitted to being a virgin—or _something _to that effect anyways; his grandpa had said he was probably just confused about his origins at the moment so it was possible he had forgotten—and this was his first time too. The thought was comforting, yes, but it did nothing to completely fix the nervous tension that claimed them both in vice grips. He just had the ability to hide it better where he himself had already cracked upon asking, not such an obvious fracture, but just enough to say that he was slightly unsure. Yami had managed not to crack until the pressure had become too much, forced to release some of his anxiety in whatever way he could.

Yugi struggled for a moment to truly comprehend the depth of just how much he must tried to smother it in order to keep himself together for the most part. He shook his head after a moment, trying to shift his thoughts away, and pressed a kiss to his neck. Yami responded by growling long and low, a guttural breath that made his own spine grow rigid with fear. It reverberated inside of him, making his marrow turn to liquid, and he breathed out a soft sigh before nuzzling his cheek. "You have to relax."

"I don't want _this_," Yami snarled into his ear. "If I had wanted _this_, I would have said so before."

"You're the one so insistent about this whole sex thing."

"As in me fucking you, not you being the one to—"

"Why can't you just calm down a little bit? If you could just calm down, this might be easier."

"I don't trust you enough to 'calm down' you little piece of shit."

"And I don't trust you enough to let you do this again. When I agreed to this, I wasn't thinking you would try to tear my skin open."

Yami stayed silent for a long moment. Then he huffed loudly. The noise made the smaller boy pause, swearing he heard him utter a mental apology at the same time, the noise nearly swallowing the words completely.

"It's okay," he muttered, shaking the stunned daze from his system and flashing him a small, hopefully reassuring smile. "I'm not mad or anything. I just…You need to calm down before I'll let you do that again. And you're obviously not relaxed enough for me to even _consider _it at the moment. Just…maybe if I do it first you can follow by example?"

The red-eyed teen blinked, interest caught in the statement. He tilted his head for a moment, narrowing his eyes, and for that brief second he seemed to stare into him as if peering at his soul. Then, abruptly, as if it had never occurred, he nodded with a sharp expression. "But, should you fuck this up, I will tear your face open," he spat.

Yugi burst out laughing and shook his head. "I won't fuck up, okay? I just…I'm not going to be all that great, so…a _little _leniency, please?"

"Whatever."

He wanted more but he would take what he could get at this point.

"Um…lube or—?"

"What the fuck did you just ask me?" Yami snapped, bristling and glaring at him while the smaller boy snorted and laughed before biting his lip to cut off some of it. "Are you insinuating I'm too weak to go raw?"

"Okay, so obviously no lube." The smaller teen shook his head, reaching up to cover his mouth, snickering behind his fingers. "But I mean, it's going to hurt some—"

"As long as you don't make me _bleed _I think it'll be fine," he hissed coldly. "But if you break my skin, you're dead."

"Really? You know that you would kill yourself, right? I mean…I'm just trying to make sure that you know that."

Yami opened his mouth to snap at him, then fell immediately silent, his eyes glittering for the briefest of moments as he considered his words. Dismissively, he waved his right hand in a flick of his wrist, a vague gesture to do as he wished. Yugi smiled at him, showing his apparent amusement. He had forgotten, somehow, in all that time arguing, that his death would bring Yami's too. It was somehow hilarious and yet absolutely devastating, to realize that his hatred ran so deep as to harm his own self-preservation in such a way.

"Just stay relaxed," he muttered, cutting away his own thoughts and swallowing hard. There would be more time to puzzle through all of it later. He didn't need to think about that when they were finally going to do what Yami had been craving so desperately for what seemed like so long.

He stretched himself out over him, one hand braced at his side, touching his ribcage with his thumb and tracing his finger over the smooth skin. The small ridges of his bones were smooth and gentle in their arches, and he smiled softly at the realization. He looked so healthy when he was not tense, but there was also a touch to his skin that made it look slightly pulled and stretched too tightly, as if completely unnatural.

But, hadn't he said his body was still being created? If he looked like this now, perhaps it wasn't so much that he was underweight or sick, just that his body still lacked a few essential parts that would have made it perfect. The idea made him feel a little better, and he wondered if he should still ask him to eat, see if he gained anything from the experience…

He ran the index finger of his free hand over his erection once in an attempt to take some of the edge off. The action made Yami's eyes narrow slightly, a petulant gleam entering his gaze. Yugi pulled his hand away, moving it downwards instead at the hint. The other boy would not allow himself to be distracted, nor did he appreciate the gesture. He distrusted him too much to even consider it. So, instead, the smaller teen teased him as he had done with him beforehand, running the pad of his finger along his entrance. He softly kneaded at the flesh a moment later and grinned as Yami purred once in satisfaction. The noise was subconscious, hardly expected, and slipped through his throat before he seemed to realize it.

He had expected more of a fight, he found as he watched him. He had thought he would snap at him, but he seemed sensitive enough that he was melting into it, with quick and easy and altogether eager responses. The smaller teen nipped at his jaw gently, coaxing Yami to grab his shoulder with one hand while the other wrapped around his ribs. It was as clear a warning as ever, that though he was enjoying himself, should he find reason he would not hesitate to break his ribs despite the fact that it would hurt him as well.

Yugi respected that silent declaration, the promise that lingered with the touch, and continued to simply rub his finger over his entrance, lightly touching it. Finally, the other boy gave him the signal to move, his muscles submitting and readying for his finger. He hesitated for only a moment, hovering, but felt the way the other tensed beneath him in growing aggravation and so pressed in slowly. Instantly his fingers pressed in the most gossamer of touches against his ribcage. A small, lingering chill made his skin tingle faintly and he swallowed hard as he shivered and licked his lips nervously. For a moment he rested there, finger only a little over halfway inside of him, and then worked further into him. The movement was received without discomfort or attempted rejection and the easiness of its acceptance was somehow overwhelming to the smaller boy. He trembled, unsure of how else to express this relief, as Yami breathed a tiny, slow exhale against his cheek in a nonchalant manner.

It was when he prodded with a second finger, brushing lightly and pushing gently, and Yami let out another low purr that showed his sensitivity to the action that he tensed up. Yugi had just barely slipped his middle finger's tip in him when he was snarled at in clear warning, nails digging into his skin with almost enough force to make him bleed. The force was bruising, the power behind it in clear display. It did not matter that the pressure was miniscule at the moment, as he knew that Yami could crush his ribs at any moment. He froze in place, biting his lip, and waited as alarm made his skin crawl and he swallowed hard even as he tried to reassure him mentally that he would have stopped regardless.

They both felt the light sting that came with his movements and it was clear it would light up into a full burn if he let Yugi go any further. So, laying there and breathing through his teeth even as he began to release some of the tension in his fingers, he relaxed his hands around his ribs. It was instinct that kept them both so still, a warning somewhere in both of their minds that if he tensed he would hurt himself further. A small trickle of blood came from the crescent-shaped marks on his sides and Yugi hissed softly but more in surprise than pain and so an apology failed to come.

For a moment they remained completely still and the smaller teen finally breathed out a soft sigh. "Hurt?"

"No."

"Uncomfortable?"

"Yes."

Yugi nodded a little, about to say something further, and then fell silent again, startled when the other closed his eyes, mumbling, "Hurt?"

It took him a moment to realize he meant the small cuts. "No."

"Uncomfortable?"

"Yeah."

They were quiet again as the smaller boy breathed out a soft sigh but did not move any further inside of him. The red-eyed boy beneath him was statuesque aside from breathing gently and the easy touch of his cold body. For a long moment the other boy failed to move and then his eyes snapped open, curious and confused, staring at Yugi in blank disregard. The smaller teen gave him a small smile, laughing softly.

"I just wanted to see your eyes," he admitted, pausing before he added, "I wanted to make sure I wasn't hurting you."

He stretched his fingers in a scissoring motion. The taller boy tilted his head at the sensation and blinked at him as he wrinkled his nose at the unfamiliar touch. But he was not hurting and so the other continued prodding, eliciting a small purr of uncomfortable and bemusing pleasure. The sting had faded away into near nothingness and the sensation was steadily growing more familiar as Yugi continued to play with his preparations.

His eyelids grew steadily lower, becoming hooded, and so dark that they seemed almost black for a split second. The effect faded immediately, however, as he began to prepare for his third finger. Abruptly, as if he had struck him with a knife or a white-hot poker, the purr cut away completely. With a hideous snarl, the other boy's face twisted into an expression of avid hatred and something almost akin disbelief.

"Hey, _hey_," Yugi soothed, though a small bit of sharpness leaked into his tone. "I'm not going to hurt you. I know it's uncomfortable and it stings a little, but it's okay. I won't hurt you, okay? I promise I'm not going to hurt you."

For a moment his words seemed to fall on deaf ears. His lips remained curled back, his eyes blazing, and his disgust was clear as he stared at him. He snarled softly, fingers still bearing down upon his skin, and they looked at one another in both alarm and frustration. It passed in what felt like hours of silence, the time dripping slowly away until Yami finally relented, a desperation somewhere inside of him reminding him once more of why this was happening. Had he not needed Yugi's energy through sexual release, none of this would have been happening. It was only his own necessity that kept them in this situation and thus he had no true place to grow so hateful though he felt it rear up in his gut violently at the very thought.

He forced his body to relax with a sharp and hideous sigh of an exhale. He hesitated but then pulled his hand away from the other's skin to run his tongue over his fingers before pressing them lightly against his scratches. If it had been anyone else, he might have bristled and grown too disgusted to continue. But it was somehow touching that the other had thought to do it, even if it was intensely awkward to consider. It seemed almost, for a moment, as if he cared that the bleeding stopped and the gentle sting eased even if it was only for his own benefit.

Yugi stretched his fingers to splay them apart as the other teen's face twisted in discomfort and slight disgust. It was somehow exciting and yet completely displeasing to realize that his penis was going to be a very tight and intensely awkward fit for the other boy if he was so sensitive to just the preparation. He moved his fingers into a triangular shape, working to stretch him further, and was amused when Yami wrinkled his nose but purred regardless. His eyes looked somehow stunned and were several sizes larger than usual, thrown by this new sensation, and the way they glimmered with confusion made him look immensely young and innocent. If Yugi had not known him to stick his hand down his pants at his own whim he would have thought him entirely awkward beneath him like this.

But there was some kind of beauty to the expression that made him shiver slightly. The very expression of such blatant confusion and innocence made something inside of him warm with delight. And he couldn't help but laugh softly as he began to scissor once more, pumping between the motions, and stretching him to the fullest capability of his fingers.

"Are you ready or do you want another finger?" he finally forced himself to ask a few minutes later, suddenly and completely swept away by the fear and shock which crept through his senses for a brief moment. He wanted to pull away for all of a tiny moment, reconsider this deal they had made together, maybe even negotiate new terms. Being on top did not make him any more courageous than it made his eyes green instead of blue-violet. It was somehow horrifying to think of how much control he held at this moment, though he wished to be able to hand most to the other boy in his consideration of his discomfort. He smothered the sensation, however, before he could cause Yami to lose his own nerves and possibly lash out, reminding himself that this was, in some way, a justice given over for his own faulty abuse of limited knowledge of his Puzzle.

The red-eyed teen was silent for what felt like hours, eyes flickering with something like distrust that made them darken considerably. For the smallest of seconds Yugi wished he might follow that sensation, fall upon it completely, and force him away from him. But then it faded and the taller teen merely nodded brusquely to make up his own mind.

"Okay," Yugi murmured, surprised by how much tension made his voice seem weaker and smaller as he forced himself to breathe out evenly, "relax and stay still for me, Yami."

If it had not been for his own good, he thought perhaps another time he might have argued. His mouth opened for the briefest of seconds, eyes flashing like sharp knives beneath the sun, and then he abruptly clenched his jaw again. Between the two of them Yugi could not tell who caused such tension, as his own body was so taut he felt he mirrored a drawn bowstring, and beneath him Yami was working to make his body remain as receptive to his touch as possible.

His hand moved from his ribs to his shoulder, nails digging gently into his skin, and his breath came out in a harsh gust of air. He nodded, blinking once before giving him a clear warning look that made his blood pump faster but freeze all at once. He licked his lips, focusing entirely on the expression which riddled the other's face, and swallowed hard as he considered himself for a moment. It was ridiculous how fearful he had become in the last few seconds and he wondered if he was merely reeling from the power he had been given when Yami submitted to him or if it was the very idea of this action in itself.

He wondered briefly, looking down to avoid the way Yami's eyes seemed to cut through him like teeth, if he could keep his fingers stretched and open so fully long enough to enter the other boy. He had never considered it before, as he had never had reason to as he, like Yami, had assumed the positions would be as prior conceived with Yami on top and himself on bottom. It seemed only natural that a deity would take position above and himself below…

He could make him stretch that far if he needed. He knew that the body was accustomed to such measures when it came to sex. It was how one was kept from torn tissue after the act. The body naturally adapted to the actions…

He shook his head to scatter the thought. It wasn't worth puzzling over when he knew the other might grow impatient soon enough. "Lift your legs up for me and wrap them around my waist, okay?" he instructed, only pausing when a new idea flashed in his mind's eye and he blurted out, "Slowly, Yami! Really slowly!"

His tone caught the other off guard enough to make him blink in shock at the urgency in his voice before his lips twisted into a tight frown that bordered an annoyed grimace. For a moment he merely gave him that same expression then blinked so that it became nothing more than a blank disapproval at his suggestion. But his hips rose enough that he could wrap his legs around his waist as slowly as possible without the loss of momentum. His former impatience was brought to the forefront of both their minds, the way he had spun them so abruptly with such disregard only a little while before.

He looked tired, resigned to this position, with such a dejection that Yugi nearly flinched away from it all. But the other boy's weight held him fast, seeming much heavier than it ever had before, and he was unable to do more than follow his original plan to stretch him as fully as he could. He twisted his wrist, angling it to continue to hold the other open as much as possible, and a sharp pain shot through his bones in angry retaliation. He ignored it only enough to keep in mind that if he could do this, it might be easier for Yami when he tried it later on.

Somehow, despite himself, he was unsurprised when it did not work. There was just not enough room for him to slip his erection inside of the other boy with his fingers splayed as they were. Even his various attempts to change his position and pivot his wrist did nothing to gain him more room. So, instead, he huffed unhappily at his inability and pulled his hand away completely to shuffle his hips forward with his weight tipped forward. The mattress creaked beneath them with the new movement, groaning a soft protest, and watched as Yami frowned momentarily at this change of position.

The new intrusion, as slow and seemingly hesitant as it was, made a snarl creep up through his throat. His expression turned into one of pure displeasure and caution and Yugi frowned for a moment even as he looked him over with a new and disturbing sense of elated pride.

"Sorry—bigger than my fingers," he muttered, giving him an awkward smile though his insides were growing rapidly warm with approval at this new height of connection between them. He licked his lips even as Yami stared at him in clear annoyance and Yugi was suddenly desperate to lean forward and suck his lip into his mouth. He wanted to taste his tongue, so strange and beautiful, against his own again. "Well, actually, I'm not sorry. It would be disappointing if I wasn't."

Yami chuckled quietly for a brief moment but it was over swiftly. His face twisted up, scrunched as his eyes narrowed in surprise. He eased his way further, slow and torturous, and was almost inclined to ask him if he wanted him to stop. It was a vague idea which passed through them both that he might pull out again, so abrupt that it caused both of them to falter in their union. But it also came to them that Yami had not stopped him before and would not now, but still Yugi was torn between impulses. He could push in all the way or he could pull away again and refuse to attempt it a second time…

His hips snapped suddenly. Yugi let out a strangled cry. Yami writhed, hissing in distress. The movement caused the bed to creak. The smaller teen trembled, gaping. The taller snarled softly and clawed at his spine as if trying to tear it from beneath his skin. He snapped his jaws, teeth clicking. His eyes flashed brightly with pain and then frustration. His grip on his skin grew rougher as he scrabbled, almost as if he were trying to find purchase there. He panted harshly once, snarling a second later, and his body twisted in another furious writhe. He tore so violently at his body that the grip made Yugi stumble closer. He nearly fell face-first into the pillow behind Yami's head as he moved again. Abruptly his nose pressed into his neck, his grip wandering to his hair and his fingers tangling harshly. He growled, panting, and his lashes tickled his skin as his eyes closed. He trembled briefly, as if unable to control himself, and hissed into his skin. Yugi swallowed hard, wishing he could have ensured nothing like this could happen. The other boy was trembling harder, the ache burning between them violently. He'd hurt himself in his haste, and the pain was enough to make Yugi want to pull away completely. But he held him in a vice grip, aching, and he almost thought he might try to bury himself inside of him somehow. He quivered, guilt burning through his twisting stomach, and Yami panted again harshly against his throat.

_A-are you okay_? he finally managed to whisper. He shifted his face to the side, just enough that he could rub his cheek against Yami's in what he hoped was a comforting motion for the other. The answer he was given in response was nails raking over his spine and he arched like a cat, unable to help himself.

_Fine_, Yami snapped roughly in his mind, voice snarling. _Just don't fucking move_.

"I won't," he muttered, voice laden with tension. His muscles strained and weakened with distress. He rubbed his cheek against his again, breathing out hard. The pain was easing slowly but surely, but there was something else quickly taking its place. Yugi was unable to shake it, nor even fully confront it. A strange, instinctual fear was coming over him, coursing first through Yami and then him. It was apparent he was not the cause of it, however. But he could not bring himself to question it either. If he asked, he feared Yami might become desperate to prove him wrong. He might lash out, move too soon, hurt himself further. What if he wound up tearing something? Or what if Yugi was forced to pin him down? Who knew what might happen then?

If he moved too soon, he would definitely pin him. He would not allow him to hurt himself further. It might get him punched or his face carved, but it was not a question. If he thought he might hurt himself, he would restrain him forcefully.

He moved his right hand away from where it rested next to his ribs. His fingers drifted gently over his hipbone, making him shudder. He pressed his nose into the other's cheek, relieved by the cool softness that greeted him there. And then, as he rubbed, Yami fell back against the pillow with something of a small, nonchalant sigh of gratitude. _Move_, he growled softly, a rough and guttural noise despite his relaxed stance.

The smaller teen took a second to adapt to this new feeling of filling him now that he was somewhat sure he was okay. And, despite himself, he reveled in the way that his inaction seemed to make the other boy bristle in frustration. Then, slowly, he dragged himself out and pushed forward again in a gentle rocking motion. A hand moved to his hair, rubbing at the nape of his neck, kneading gently at his flesh. His eyes closed, his brows furrowing faintly, and he twitched uncomfortably enough that his lip curled just slightly, allowing his left canine to press against his bottom lip.

The effort of which he put into concentrating on that feeling of Yugi moving as he was seemed overshadowed by the awkward and fumbling rhythm. This inability to truly come up with more than simple rocking back and forth in slow drags seemed to eat at his patience briefly. But moving too soon had only caused him pain formerly and Yami was not one to repeat a repercussion of such magnitude with such conscious thought. Adaptation was a skill that he did not second guess and such action as to put himself through a second dose of pain without necessity was not within his nature. Awkward fumbling and rocking back and forth would have to do, as even Yugi had warned him he would not be too amazing as it was his first time doing it…

But far be it him to accept his own displacement in this situation. His inability to move without harming himself was nothing that was surprising, however, and so he settled more fitfully against the pillow. His tooth pressed a little further into his lip, however, and he hesitated to do more than keep his eyes shut and his focus so solely on this new, more invasive action between the two of them.

Had he opened his eyes to look at him, he would have found Yugi watching him as closely as he was trying to focus on their union. He was purposely avoiding a rhythm over finding exactly where and what spots he could go without harming the deity. He angled to push deeper than before, as far as he could, and dragged himself over his prostate without care for steady movement between them. A snarl of pure excitement and delight shook through him, scattering itself within both of their very cores. He shivered and Yami clenched around him momentarily, his former snarl now a soft noise like a rumbling growl low in his chest.

Yugi moved his hands to further stretch himself out over the other teen until both of their bodies were pulled to their fullest. He lowered his mouth to his ear, breathing softly against it, the movement surprising them both, and slipped a hand beneath the other's back. He arched and twisted, accommodating him soundlessly, and Yugi wrapped his other arm around his back to press their cheeks together. He shivered, welcoming the addition of his cooler skin against his own heated body, purring at the simple satisfaction that came with the small bit of contact.

The taller scoffed against his cheek, the movement deliberately slow so that his breath bathed over his skin like a winter breeze. For a moment Yugi reveled in such a sensation, feeling as if he might melt into such a gentle touch, and nearly purred in satisfaction once more. "So, how does it feel then?" the taller teen asked slowly, cutting into his thoughts entirely.

He hesitated for a moment, unsure of what exactly it was he really meant to ask him. His immediate thought was that of just how fucking _tight _he was around him, how hot and pulsating he suddenly seemed. His second thought was to say that he felt like a fire personified with his spike of body heat. Then he wanted, more than anything, to say something along the lines of just how _amazing _it actually felt. He trembled in delight, wanting to laugh at himself for his own vulgarity and then with slight embarrassment of whether Yami could hear them himself.

"Like you just gave me a really great gift," he said instead, cutting away his initial thoughts altogether.

Yami snorted skeptically in his ear and he jerked slightly in surprise at the noise. He blinked, looking at him with wide eyes, and then frowned as they stared at one another for a moment. He thought he might bring up his former thoughts, maybe even sneer them at him and watch him writhe uncomfortably at the reminder. But, despite the obvious questioning of his choice of words and the way he looked at him so cynically for a brief second, he did not speak.

And then something occurred to him, so suddenly that he nearly gaped at the other boy in shock at the very idea.

"I…I'm having sex with a god," he mumbled, unable to force the awed amazement from his voice as he opened and closed his mouth once. Eyes nearly twice their normal size, heart pounding in his ears, he blinked at the other boy, startled and unsure of himself. Was he truly a god? Was he truly having _sex with a god_? It was somehow paralyzing to come across the thought and face it at its natural value. It was overwhelming to consider the other boy beneath him being so dangerously out of his own league in species that he nearly quivered.

Yet his gaping did not stop, and his mouth merely fell back open no matter his numerous attempts to keep it shut. And, amused as he was, he did not take the reaction with the pleasure he might have from another's startled and horrified expression. Had he not snarled at him viciously this very point several times before, that he was in fact a deity and not just some shadow as he had originally suspected, it would have been humorous. But the doubt that he had formerly held towards him now made him bristle furiously and his lips curled back to show his teeth faintly with anger towards his disregard.

"Sorry."

Though he was now humble and almost bore a semblance of humility, head bowed and eyes lingering on his collarbones, the apology did nothing to soothe his frustration.

"Whatever," he snapped, voice bordering a sneer which could have easily become a snarl of distaste. "Just move faster."

The smaller boy nodded slightly, gaining just enough speed with the inward thrust to make Yami purr loudly and pull him closer again. His nails scraped lightly over his skin, forcing him somehow impossibly further into his own body again. A small but overpowering throb of need swept between them, so hard it was on the very urge of becoming painful.

Yugi licked his lips and pressed his cheek against the other boy's again.

He needed him.

For how long was the question however. Was it only that moment? Longer?

It took him several moments to realize that the touch that lingered on his shoulders was not a gesture to come closer. In fact, the taller boy was pushing him away, though gently as it was, and there was no mistaking that he meant to speak as Yugi blinked and pulled away only enough to face him fully. There was no embrace Yami wished to offer him, only a cold and lingering rejection.

It was as if a bucket of water had been dumped over his entire body, or as if the heavens had just opened up and a personal rainstorm was waging over him now. He shivered but the intensity in the other boy's eyes did not waver. They continued swirling, dancing with vibrant sparks of harsh embers like a fire being brought back to life. The way his lips curled back slightly, both in amusement and in apparent distaste, made Yugi falter for a brief second. He did not plan to stay for as long as the smaller boy had been imagining, a harsh and cruel reality that he could not think straight about. Yugi felt immediately stupid for his own former thought, his entire body rebelling in his incredulous former idea. Yami had no such desires to be tied down further than he already was, bound to him by his own stupidity by giving him a name and identity that he was forced to answer to.

He thought it a blessed mercy that he did not open his mouth and form the words. He was not sneering at him as he could have, and the severity of the situation was not given another, more horrifying light yet again. He felt he might have gotten sick if the other had spoken again, putting to words the crushing feeling in his gut that was already coming to life. For a moment the taller teen smirked as if the thought was the best that had crossed either of their minds in months. He looked like the Cheshire cat, given several bowls of cream and a mouse in gift wrapping, waiting for his moment to pounce on another. Then his eyes closed and he purred softly, laughing almost.

It was weird but with each long, smooth stroke, Yugi thought he might have been losing a small bit of himself and gaining something of Yami in the meantime. He still could not find it in his mind, his vast expanse of vocabulary, to describe the amount of completion and power which came with this action. His heart beat erratically in his chest, the other teen breathing softly in sync with it, letting loose odd little pants that made him shiver in surprise. It was temporary by all means, but still it was there, if nothing else.

_You think too hard about little things_, Yami's voice snarled in his head, making him blink and shiver as he caught the sharp look on his face. _Don't complicate it further than it already _is_._

The smaller boy let out a little laugh, nodding to himself even as he muttered, "It's already bad enough" in full agreement. It was so low in tone that the other teen narrowed his eyes and tilted his head, straining his hearing to even catch the words before nodding shortly. His lips twisted and pulled into a wide smirk, eyes dancing with a cruel and overbearing amusement, and his teeth glittered for a brief moment. His expression made Yugi pause, bristling faintly before frowning in puzzlement. His eyes glimmered again, cunning and sharp with more than the lightest touches of menace and brutality.

"What?"

For a long minute Yami was silent and then he chuckled loudly and shook his head. "Oh, little game, tell me something," he purred softly. "What is your definition of using someone?"

"…I don't know. I never really thought about it."

"Then allow me to tell you that you're wrong if you think I'm going to take care of you or respect you when I have not the _slightest _interest in what you request of a partner," he stated calmly without pause, voice curling distastefully around the last word. "I am only here to get my new existence sorted, even if only in the most miniscule of ways. I know from basic survival that I need not waste time finding other humans to partake in this mindless action with. Seeing as I am bound to you in such a way, you are my sole source of life and power and even identity, understand? Nothing beyond that matters to me. You will be sorely disappointed with the effort I will put in to anything more should you ask for it. I will _never _give you more than what is necessary for my own benefit. Regard this as your warning, for you will not get another one."

"I know that."

"Then _act _as if you do," Yami spat coldly, baring his teeth for a split second with a furious snarl like the undercurrent of thunder rumbling softly in the darkness. He pulled him somehow closer still, until their bodies were pressed too tightly together for even a piece of paper to be slid between them. The action halted all of his movement and his fingers stroked for a moment over the nape of his neck as he closed his eyes.

"Is there any way I could actually get you _out _of my head?" Yugi sighed after a moment, causing Yami to release him somewhat and let him regain his momentum. Still, despite his efforts, he could not for the life of him find a rhythm for which he could make his movements steady. Instead he only moved slightly faster, so as not to make the other snarl and snap at him furiously in response to a slower start.

"Maybe if you thought in a _softer _voice, it might help," the other boy scoffed, rolling his red eyes and very briefly studying the ceiling. His face twisted for the merest of moments and then his focus slid back towards him slowly.

"I wasn't aware I was supposed to regulate that."

"You are a naturally loud person. In contrast to me, you are predominantly an extroverted person whereas I am quiet and introverted. Because of this you are far noisier than I am myself. Perhaps, if you wish for me to remain out of your head, you might think to work on that."

"…You aren't going to be here often enough for me to actually need to bother with that, though, are you, Yami?"

The harshness of his reprimand made the other teen blink but he did not falter when he snorted, "Your mind is connected with mine; whether I am nearby or _not_, I can hear you."

Yugi shuddered. "Wow. That's…got to suck."

"It is certainly hindering. And highly unfavorable. Especially when you manage to think _over _my own thoughts!" Yami snarled viciously, appearing almost ready to lunge at him before falling silent briefly. His rage spent for the smallest of moments, he snapped his hips to buck against him quickly, purring even as he breathed in sync with the smaller boy's heart once more. "Am I really?"

"Really what?"

"Breathing in sync with your heartbeat."

The smaller boy took a second to adjust to this new speed Yami introduced to him, shivering before he mumbled, "Yeah."

"Huh."

He supposed he should be glad that was the extent of their conversation on such a subject, but the coldness of it still made his bones feel weak. Regardless, the small teen turned his head to kiss along the edge of the other boy's jaw, coaxing gently for movement that Yami ignored for a long moment. A slight but somehow steady exasperation crept through the air between them and Yugi nearly laughed in amusement. The other boy rolled his eyes upwards before his head turned so that their lips could press together again. A thrust made his nails dig into his skin and his back arch as the smaller moaned softly in the back of his throat with approval.

_You're warming up_, Yugi noted happily, delighted beyond himself by the simplicity of the fact. Yami was indeed growing somewhat warmer, though he was still cool to his touch as he normally was. He purred before he could think better of it and the taller boy halted his movements where his tongue had been playing with his. His nails curled faintly into his skin, grasping at him in momentary surprise which passed abruptly as he returned to his movements.

_It happens sometimes_, he returned dismissively, bucking against him shamelessly so that Yugi nearly stumbled. He scrambled, surprised by the action, and tried his hardest to keep up with the new pace.

Teeth caught his lip with enough force to make him yelp and still briefly. Yami was snarling softly now, startling him, but he did not form words, a mindless and hideous noise that made the smaller boy's head spin. _Did I hurt you_? he demanded immediately, unprepared for the moment that his eyes snapped open to bore into his. There was such power and movement within them, like water rippling, that he was so mesmerized he almost buckled beneath the force of it. A new sensation of pleasure swept through him, tackling his body in vibrant waves, and he trembled faintly with the terrible touch, remembering for a moment the first time they had met.

_Your ribs are not broken_, Yami replied coldly instead, completely severing his sense of security in the feeling. But, as if he sensed it and wished to make up for it somehow, he moaned into his mouth and pulled him closer by the nape of his neck, gripping hard enough to make him wince. The pain of the touch gave him such pleasure that he nearly cried out with an inability to stop himself. It was electrified and gentle as the smaller felt the other teen draw him even closer to him.

Briefly he acknowledged Yami's earlier words, that there needed to be as much skin on skin contact as possible. There was a low and melodious purr to answer him, granting him the confirmation he had been wondering about. It vibrated down his throat as their tongues remained tied and he moved faster for a moment.

He pulled back, finally, panting for breath while Yami began to guffaw around his own heavy breaths, the sound odd and enticingly mesmerizing. The fingers on the nape of his neck moved, drawing little unfamiliar patterns and alternation between light and deep touches. A low, squirming moan came from his lungs, drawn tight from the exhilaration of the other's fingers. _Sensitive, hmm_? _It seems something we both share._

Yugi was not sure if he liked the way that he contemplated the remark, the way it curled in his head like a drifting wind and sent a chill down his spine. The sensation of it as it moved through his mind was that of a burning, licking touch to each of his nerve endings. His arms buckled, Yami laughing into his ear in delight, and his brain seemed almost to shut down for a moment in his own satisfaction. For a split second, everything seemed to become nothing more than the sensation of the other boy clenching around him, his orgasm matching his. It was nothing but an unwinding spiral of delicious heat, sultry tension, passionate violence and steady twisting, rendering him completely incapable of thought or expression.

The deity continued to stroke his hair, playing with a few strands. His fingers massaged at his skin, light traces of the tips where they danced here or there. It drew him back to reality just enough to recognize the world was slipping back into place around him. His pulse was pounding and fire was shooting through his veins as he lifted his head just enough to look at the other boy. He was still snickering so softly, breathless little noises, his fingers continuing their ministrations. But it was his eyes that caught his attention. They were dark and dilated, burning with a harsh edge like broken glass and a mirroring softness like that of the plushest down. Yugi shivered and lowered his head again, listening to his heartbeat as he pressed his ear to his chest comfortably. His eyes closed tightly, a feeling of something primitive having broken loose inside of him to pace back and forth like a caged animal.

He pulled away after what felt like hours of being against his colder body, breathing hard and trembling before rolling over to lie beside him. The fingers in his hair remained tangled and his movements did not even cease for the briefest of moments. His red eyes flickered towards him for a moment, unreadable in expression, and then they drifted to the walls around them. They were such a bright, glorious blue, and he wanted nothing more to destroy the color. It seemed almost as if it was meant to keep his optimism higher than he cared to, as if it might rejuvenate him as his body felt ready to crumble. The idea brought a small smirk across his lips and he narrowed his eyes, listening to Yugi struggle to still his breathing somewhat next to him.

"How are you not winded?" the sixteen-year-old muttered with a confused look. His lips were pursed and his eyes were but thin slits as he peered at him through his long lashes.

"We just did something that brought more power to me, why should I be winded?" the taller snorted, though he tilted his head towards him. A curiosity burned on his insides, making him smirk a little wider as he finally turned his head to look at him fully. "You should try to take in larger breaths, hold them and then breathe out again. It normally makes for easier pacing."

Yugi opened his mouth to ask how he would know that and then fell silent, a wave of shame crashing through him as he pulled his pillow closer to himself instead. It came to him in a small flash, painful as he blinked. Yami had said that he had been unable to make his lungs work properly at first. He had said he had worried that he was dying by some inexplicable source of magic. So it was not at all surprising to realize that the other had come to realize that he had to find his own way to balance such disability so as not to be rendered useless. He was nothing if not a survival.

The smaller teen pulled the pillow closer to him still, swallowing hard. The other boy had clearly thrown the statement out as a cruel reminder of his mistake. And he had thrown this acid barb well.

He watched him as he sat up straight and stretched himself out. His back arched like a graceful feline. His arms dropped his arms to his lap again. Then his eyes flickered around him lazily. He furrowed his brows as he watched him, crossing his arms and twisting himself more to face him. His nose brushed into his hip and he almost recoiled fearfully, thinking that he might upset him, but instead pressed a little further into the cold skin there.

The other boy did not pause even at his silent questioning.

"I thank you for keeping your half of the deal we made," he stated, effectively causing the smaller boy to cringe and pull back in a violent recoil. His head snapped up as he sat up a little in shock at the statement and the other got to his feet. His gaze shot around the room slowly, taking in several things that Yugi was unsure he really cared to glance at, and then began to purr softly. He seemed to move with a new and graceful energy, so fast that he barely seemed to bend over to grab his clothes from the ground in the first place. The smaller boy did not make a move to object, however, instead breathing in deeply and exhaling softly as he settled into his pillow again and watched him curiously around taking in the curve of his ass. He had known he would leave soon enough but this seemed entirely too ridiculous to put into words.

Yami glanced at his sideways, raising a brow that said he disagreed, and then turned away to pull on his boxers. His actions were fluid and swift as he dressed himself once more, pants and shirt and jacket, and stretched himself once. He kicked at his shoe, drawing it closer to him, then snatched a sock off the floor and began to pull it on. The other followed suit almost immediately as he spun on his heel to face the desk before giving it an annoyed look upon seeing the Puzzle seated there. Not once did he grace Yugi with a glance. He turned away completely, as if he had suddenly grown humble and knew the strength of modesty, and pulled his other shoe on. The smaller boy blinked, stiffening where he was still lying in the bed. He was about to vanish rather than risk a run-in with the Puzzle sitting on the desk. His original idea had been to slip out of the window…

And for a moment he swore the other teen looked almost pensive as he glanced at it again. But, rather than disappearing, he strode for the door, as if he were suddenly compelled to cease any impulse to use magic in case the Puzzle attempted to counteract it or something.

"Stay here. With me," Yugi murmured, shifting onto his elbow and leaning up. Yami turned his head and stared at him over his shoulder with narrowed eyes, lashes almost long and thick enough to keep him from even catching the barest hint of the red of his gaze. "Please? I worry about you when you aren't around and I…I miss you sometimes. So…stay here."

The taller boy narrowed his eyes further. The smaller boy lowered his head some, feeling almost desperate as he ducked his gaze just enough to catch some of that violent red he knew awaited him in this position. Yami turned more fully to face him, blinking curiously in response to his actions, but did not speak. The seconds seemed to pass sluggishly once more and Yugi felt as if the air were growing heavy around them. His heart skipped as the seconds became long minutes.

"For how long?"

The smaller boy stared at him in avid confusion. The question was so far from the range of possibilities of what he had expected him to say that he almost thought he had misheard him. He had expected him to argue that he did not need to stay there, that he shouldn't want him there. He struggled into an upright position, feeling somehow still winded, his heart racing his chest. His eyes were caught on his, glittering with cunning and menacing caution though it was mostly overpowered by curiosity.

"I don't know," he admitted, chewing his cheek as he watched him. "For as long as you wish to be here. I won't kick you out or anything. You can come and go as you want. I just want to know that you're okay if you go for days without seeing me or something like that. I honestly don't want you getting hurt or anything like that…"

"So, really, you want me to stay here so that you don't have to worry anymore."

"No. I'll always worry. That's not going to change. It's human nature to worry about someone else. Especially if they…make you feel more."

"More?"

"More. I don't have another word for it. I could say you make me feel. But there's a wide array to that and I can't just pin down one emotion or just…leave it like that," Yugi admitted, giving him a small shy smile that made his eyes brighter and left Yami blinking in surprise. "Maybe you make me feel them more intensely. Or maybe around you it becomes a balancing act that I both love and hate. You push me until I feel too much but when I'm around others it's like I feel too little. I don't have a medium yet."

"You expect to find one?" Yami asked slowly, drawing the words out and narrowing his eyes faintly as he looked him over.

"I think it's possible. I also think that you run away from me so often because you don't actually _like _feeling aside from not having that hollow sensation that we both share. I think that you feel too much and it comes out sharp and brutal for you and you hate it because of that. And I hate that you bring out my emotions that same way. I'm used to them being manageable and now they're everywhere."

"Your problem, not mine—"

"Oh, but it is your problem as well," Yugi laughed, getting up. "Oh yes, Yami, I noticed it. That was why you got so aggressive with me when you were trying to prep me and after I offered to show you that you didn't have to get so scared like that. You're just as affected by this as I am. The only difference is that I'm not running and you think you still can."

Yami bared his teeth, snarling quietly with a noise so feral for a second Yugi honestly thought that he might resort to attacking him to keep him away. His shoulders had risen and his spine was pulled tight. His eyes were flashing. But he had not touched him before aside from holding him against the wall those few times or pinning him against the bed and squeezing his throat lightly. He had not fully turned his wrath on him, had not hurt him even once, and that was something that now held the smaller boy in momentary rapture. As they looked at each other, he could not help the small smile that started to pull at his lips as a new realization crept into his mind.

He would not harm him now either. He would not lay a finger on him. He simply felt trapped, cornered like an animal in a cage that was too small for him. He would snarl and snap his teeth if he got too close. But he would not attack him. He would not lash out and break him as he had the potential to.

Rather, if he thought it safe to look away, he would disappear in a flash. He would retreat instead of risk himself. Because he knew he felt volatile, as he had multiple times, and that was more of a fear than anything Yugi could inflict in him at the moment.

The step he took made Yami snarl louder, teeth gleaming in the lamp's yellow light. He looked feral, ferocious, but he did not step back. And his eyes were clear despite his intimidating stance. Yugi smiled a little wider at the knowledge, moving closer until he could almost touch him.

"What the _fuck are you doing to me_?" Yami spat quietly, narrowing his eyes into slits. They glittered with an intense and violent focus, glaring at him through his long lashes, and the smaller boy smiled a little wider. He tipped his head to the side, then reached forward to catch his hands. The deity stiffened, growing statuesque in position, and fell silent.

Something soft and small was brushing against his subconscious. For a moment he could not process the lack of threat, his mind immediately pushing forward to lash out. But then he smothered the impulse. There was a soft, subtle reassurance in the touch, the smaller teen attempting to make him feel better.

It was not completely working, but he would reward his efforts at least with his attention.

Though, when he was honest with himself, he was not sure he could have turned away at this rate. Things seemed inexplicably to be moving much too fast for his formerly fatigued mind.

"I won't hurt you. You know I don't plan to do that. But I also don't _want _you _getting _hurt either, Yami. I don't want you getting hurt physically or otherwise. I might not understand it and sometimes I think you don't either—but it's there. And it runs so deep, doesn't it, Yami? And it _hurts_ when we're apart—maybe not to the point that it burns or even really _begins _to ache, but it's there. It's like having a phantom limb and still feeling it there even when you know it's not really anymore. Maybe that's why you get so angry and act so violently sometimes or why I keep reacting so passively."

The taller teen stared at him blankly for what felt like the longest five minutes of his life. Then his eyes abruptly flickered to their hands, where his encompassed his, folding them together. He pulled at his left, tugging it from his grip and blinking wide eyes when Yugi allowed his fingers to slip from his grip. When he gave him a shocked look, furrowing his brows, the other boy gave him a gentler smile, raising a brow playfully.

"I won't keep you here." He released him completely but did not back away, watching him closely and feeling warm that he was even still standing there. He knew that there was not a force in _any _world that would keep this living storm in place should he decide he needed to escape right then and there. "But I want you to stay. Maybe not forever, because we might not need each other for that long, but for now…"

"Why?"

"Because you're just as lost as I am. It would be easier if we weren't so completely lost that we couldn't find each other at the end of this, right?"

Yami narrowed his eyes, his irises flashing like a pair of coins tossed into the air in the direct ray of a bright light. They were hit at just the right angle to make them gleam and sharpen like blade points.

"You hate being alone just as much as I do. I can tell—I could tell when you first started coming back here and talking to me around stealing my stuff." Yugi paused, biting his lip and then laughing softly when Yami gave him a startled look. He hadn't realized he had caught him—or maybe he had expected him to fight with him and was more than shocked that he was not doing so. "You hate it but you don't want to be around me completely. It's a contradiction, huh? You tore my Dark Magician card because you wanted to make me hate you enough that the next time we crossed paths I would not want to have anything to do with you. And it worked for all of five minutes…but I… Yami, as miniscule as our exposure was, I still ended up having darkened thoughts and I know you wound up feeling guilty for doing it."

"I don't—"

"You don't have to lie to me. I could feel you like you felt me that week. After you tore the card and I attacked you, I felt all of your guilt. I felt your confusion and your grief. And you felt my anger and melancholy. That was why you came back to me with it," he muttered, shaking his head and glancing over his shoulder for a moment. "Yami, there is a reason for it, _right_? There has to be a _reason _for all of this—sharing our emotions, those brief little images that cross our minds when we do something like brush hands, the way we bring out each other's worst and…maybe our best too…"

"Your best?" Yami scoffed. "I have not brought out your best."

_Tea brings out your best_.

He did not project it but he almost felt as if Yugi had thought the same in the second he had, whether he cared to speak it or not.

"Maybe not _exactly_, but I remind you that you have a conscience when you seem to conveniently forget you're stuck in a human body. So I don't know about you, but I think that makes it a good thing on _your _behalf, right?"

"And what do you benefit from this, exactly? I get a little bit of my conscience back and you get _what_, Yugi?"

"I get to know that you're safe," he muttered, smiling gently at his cynical expression. His eyes darkened, glittering with disbelief, but he did not bother to fight him. "That you're safe and I am not going to find out that there was some kind of freak accident or somehow our bond fucked up and you wound up dying somewhere or something. And I get to know that I'm not completely alone despite feeling that way almost _constantly_. And then I get the feeling that I have the _right _to experience the emotions that I do. I guess…when it comes down to it, I get security in it all. So…stay here. With me."

"I…"

"We can always figure this out as we go along, Yami. We have time. And it won't be nearly as nice as someone would hope and maybe it will be more mentally abusive than anything else, but I am willing to try if you are. I'm tired of only feeling partway. I want you here."

"And you would go through mental abuse just so that you knew I was okay?"

Yugi nodded. "Gladly."

"You're an idiot."

"And you're a coward."

Yami bared his teeth in annoyance, his snarl low and soft. "You frustrating little bastard." Yugi backed up when he started forward, matching him step for step until he hit the edge of his bed. He searched those red eyes for a moment, checking for a violent impulse that the other might not smother, and then snatched his shirt tightly and threw himself backwards. The deity spat out a noise of startled anger, falling straight into him and hissing when his legs came into contact with the bed. The smaller boy gave him a wide grin of amusement, twisting the fabric of his shirt.

"What the hell?"

"Come on, Yami—prove it to me that you're not a coward. Stay here. Lay with me. Hell, fuck me if you want, but _stay here_."

"Why are you being so _adamant_?" the other boy hissed angrily, ceasing movement completely when Yugi arched to rub his hips against his in a leisurely circular motion. The impulse to throw his head back and moan his pleasure made his jaw clench. The deity reached forward and grasped tightly at the comforter for purchase, cursing mentally at the feeling of the smaller boy moving against him so softly. It was nothing but gentle brushes of skin against clothing and yet he swore he would unravel at the light sensation. He drew in a deep breath, holding it in his lungs, and bit his tongue to hold his pleasure at bay. There was a loud and sharp noise that cut the air, like seams breaking, and the sound made Yugi glance sideways before smirking in amusement. The other boy had completely torn the comforter at his hip. His hands moved, tightening the fabric of his shirt further, the other slinging around his shoulders to pull him closer and hold him completely in place. His palm was pressing heavily against his chest now, the fabric hot and seemingly sticky where his skin touched it. He shivered at the sound of a rough, strangled pant which left his lips and turned back to see that Yami was watching with him with the widest of eyes. He was furious but his wonder was growing and his amusement made his gaze sparkle with laughter, but he was unable to pull his eyes from the blue-violet gaze that met his.

"Because I care and I want you to stay safe."

Yami gave him a cold look and clenched his jaw to force back an involuntary moan, sneering, "You say that as if you love me" in a brutal tone. The smaller boy blinked stupidly at the words, then burst out laughing and shook his head immediately.

"I don't," he stated simply, smiling widely in amusement. "I don't know if I ever _could_, to be honest. But that doesn't define the reason behind someone caring for someone else."

"You want something from me," he presumed, moving to open his legs slightly when the smaller boy began to push against him in a soft motion again. Yugi leaned forward and pulled slightly on his shirt to bring him impossibly closer. The other boy snarled softly at the sensation, bracing himself harder against the bed, and licked the backs of his teeth to keep from moaning. His grip tightened further to keep his position and the comforter tore more violently, splitting at the seams and snapping loudly beneath his fingers. His head turned to brush his lips against the smaller boy's cheek but his teeth met him there in a flash, slick with saliva but harsh to the touch.

"I want you here. That's all. Beyond that, you can do as you want, Yami no Yugi. I can't stop you and you won't listen to me if I attempted to argue my point some more. We're at an impasse as far as that goes. But I want you _here_, Yami. At the house even if it's just to tell me that you plan to leave for weeks or months or—however long. I want to hear you _tell _me that. I don't want to have you gone for so long and without a single warning. It makes me worry and it frustrates me."

"You ask for far too much," Yami spat softly in his ears, muscles grow taut as his body tensed with pleasure. His impulse was to throw Yugi more forcefully against the bed, to lick and snap his teeth and draw blood while giving him as much as he had gotten minutes before. His breath came in a ragged whistle, ghosting over his skin, and the smaller teen nearly groaned in response.

Yugi hissed out a breath in his ear, then moved his arm from around his neck to rest on his shoulder. His nails dug into his jacket and shirt, pulling as the taller boy snarled in acknowledgment and encouragement at the slight pressure of pain the action produced.

"Masochist," he teased softly, breathless before laughing. The other boy was wide-eyed and startled, but his expression quickly morphed into an impatient snarl. His gaze was narrowed, boring violently into his. "You don't think that demanding I never go out with someone else isn't the same as what I've just asked of you? I know you aren't going to go away forever and certainly not if you think I'm going to be entertaining myself with someone else. Like I said before, you won't let me experience pleasure unless it's _you _giving it, isn't that right, Yami?"

He bristled at the way his name came from his lips, almost warm with laughter, but a shiver quickly pushed it away. His voice would not come out for a long time, but then a strained strand of it came, tight and ragged in a breathless pant that led into a small, trembling purr. "Do you even know what you are saying?"

"Yes."

Yami snarled softly at his quiet laughter. His teeth chomped loudly next to his cheek. The incisors brushed his skin. His breath came hot, almost wet and searing against his skin. Yugi snickered louder, releasing his shoulder in favor of sinking his hand into his hair.

"I also know that I don't really have that many options right now anyways. Regardless of you being here, I've only ever been interested in one girl and you scared her away anyways," he snorted, smirking at the red-eyed teen who scowled at him with a slightly disgusted look. "And I have no doubt that it would _not _be funny if my best friend was suddenly found with her heart ripped out because of you."

Yami made a scoffing noise and snapped, "Whatever. She provoked me."

Yugi burst out laughing, stopping his movements altogether. His snickers turned into guffaws as he took in the other's expression. His eyes had grown wide, startled, and his jaw set into a violent scowl, failing to find amusement in his cease of movement. He had been too lost in the smaller boy's actions to really know what to do now that they had stopped.

"Provoked you—because she asked me out. Yeah—_okay_, Yami."

"Shut up," the darker teen spat furiously, baring his teeth in annoyance. He gave him an impatient look, snapping without words for him to begin moving again. But he was laughing too hard to do more than choke on his breath and turn red in the face with amusement. He finally grew too fed up to remain in his previous position, throwing the boy forcefully against the mattress and pressing his knee there as well. "She does not deserve you."

"And you do?"

"No. But I want you and I have you. So I think I win regardless of worthiness."

_Worthiness_…

Yugi kind of liked the word but did not think it completely fit with such a statement, chewing his cheek as he fought the impulse to say so. Instead he shook his head once, breathing in slowly and backing up on the bed to allow the other to climb on and straddle him.

"You don't have me. _I _have _you_. And if you _want _me, then agree to my terms or I'm going to enjoy having fun with dating and experiencing one-night stands and—"

"You would not," Yami snarled, bristling and appearing for a moment almost fearful of such an idea. The other teen blinked, startled by the vulnerability that made his expression so readable, but the moment passed. His face twisted into a sneer, voice cold and angry like a snake waiting to strike. "You are blackmailing me."

"It's the same as you've been doing to me, Yami. I think it's only fair, right?"

He opened his mouth at first to object, then fell silent. A huff left his lungs, loud and petulant, and his lips moved to his neck. His teeth sank into his skin enough to make him yelp in painful shock, clawing at his back in a panic for a split second. Yami pulled back with a snicker and Yugi bristled in irritation, scowling at him. "You have no endurance for pain."

"I don't _enjoy_ it," Yugi corrected coldly. "You know nothing about me."

"We could change that."

"Unless you agree, then no."

Yami stayed quiet for a moment. "Why would you want me here when I scare you?"

"I'm not…exactly scared _of _you. I fear the things you _do_, what you _can _do, what I know you've already _done_," he explained softly after a moment's hesitation. He frowned, whining in the back of his throat when Yami moved to push his legs further apart with his knee. He nudged him again a moment later, inviting him to wrap his legs around his waist, but the smaller boy could not bring himself to for a moment. His eyes widened drastically, his spine tightening, as he heard the zipper of the deity's pants being drawn down. "It's not so much fearing you. If I did…well, you wouldn't be here right now, Yami."

His eyes narrowed and he peered at him through his lashes, fire against obsidian for a moment before his lips curled back slightly. "I will not change for you. You may bitch at me until I lash out but I will not change who I am just for you."

Yugi shook his head slightly. "I don't want you to change. I wouldn't ask you to. You already know what I ask and that's it."

"To stay here…with you. That is all you want from me?"

"Yeah. That's it."

"That seems so stupid."

"Then maybe I'm an idiot. But it's true. That's all I want. And that's all I'll take from you. Just stay here, give me a head's up if you're going to leave for any amount of time." He shrugged. "And shit—be gentle. I swear if you start like you did before I'm going to tear your eyes out."

Yami chuckled softly but didn't argue, instead nodding and reaching back to tap his fingers against his thigh; Yugi hesitated for a second but lifted his legs to wrap loosely around his waist. "Very well."

"Very well?" Yugi repeated, confused. "Very well what?"

"It means that if you can face your fear of what I can do and who I am, then I can certainly stay here."

If he had not been so painfully aware of just how badly Yami did not wish to be there or how strongly he opposed staying with him because of his own fears and insecurities, Yugi would have been offended. He would have questioned that statement a million times, tossing it around in his head over and over until he felt he might go insane. But instead he hissed and chewed his cheek as the other boy brushed his teeth against his temple as if he wanted nothing more than to sink them into his skin. His breath came out in a small hiss, almost as if he was struggling to contain the urge to do just that, and he shivered. Or maybe he wanted to lick the entirety of his face as he had at the arcade. This time he would have a real reason to do so that would not involve pissing Yugi off for the hell of it. But, either way, he was not exactly pushing at the idea of doing so.

And with that realization came another.

He was so fucking warm now…

"Just go slow," he murmured when he found that Yami had paused and seemed to be debating his next move. "You won't hurt me."

The other teen raised a brow in clear dissatisfaction towards his words, questioning him in apparent disbelief, but then shook his head. He pushed his own doubt aside enough to brace himself fully against the mattress and press against him completely, pushing just enough to squeeze the head in. Yugi winced, realizing with sudden clarity just how foolish this entire choice had become. He had not fully thought it over and now that he considered it at its most pivotal of moments, he knew without a doubt that he was not truly ready for all of this.

The turn of thoughts was something that the deity bypassed completely. But he did stop, turning his head and staring at him. He gave him a look that said very clearly that he could take control if he wanted, that he had the chance to tell him to back off. But Yugi had resolved himself already, and as he scrunched his face up and squeezed his eyes shut, he tried his hardest to banish the idea from his mind. His body was tense for what felt like hours but he knew had to have only been a few short minutes and a small wave of shame filled his insides as he came to terms with this. Had this not been his idea? Had he not agreed to do just this? There was no room to back out—or there was, but he would not do it. He had been the one to declare this outcome a possibility. And he had already done this very thing with the other boy minutes before.

He wouldn't back down with all of those facts staring him in the face.

"Okay," he muttered, nodding despite the small burning sensation that lingered beneath his skin. The other teen narrowed his eyes, skeptical of his shaky voice, but did not question him. His choices were his own to make; there was no reason for him to interfere. He moved forward again, surprised when the other did not object but clenched minutely and then forced himself to relax almost immediately after. When he could not move any further, the deity felt faintly satisfied but also slightly irritable as he balanced his weight comfortably. Yugi chewed his cheek for a moment, breathing roughly at the sensation and struggling to unclench his jaw from where he had kept his face so firmly twisted. Then he shook his head, opening his eyes, and gave him a small, strained smile that spoke of discomfort more than it did pain. "You can move if you want. Just, you know…slow?"

Yugi was not entirely sure whether it was the fact that he had showed him the same courtesy minutes before or if it was just that he had asked that made the other teen nod. But he was well aware that Yami was testing his balance and working to pull them into a somewhat more controlled position. His legs were still wrapped around his waist in what was now a vice grip that he knew would probably bruise his inner thighs later. But when the deity moved to arch his back slightly, his spine was soft beneath his fingers as his shoulders rolled under his fingers. The smaller boy reveled in the sensation, allowing it to distract him from the way Yami gently pulled away from him until only the tip remained inside of him. It came to him as he began to push inside just as slowly that he had lost his virginity—twice, in both ways.

It was such a distinctly clear, odd and satisfying thought, that it was almost humbling to him. His lips twitched, then pulled into a wide smile as he closed his eyes and splayed his palm more comfortably over the other's shoulder. The taller teen let out a soft chuckle that prompted him to open his eyes into slits, sticking his tongue out as he thrush back in with the smallest bit more force. The smaller boy licked his lips, the motion pleasurable, strange and uncomfortable all at once.

Yami shifted his hips slightly, trying to find some kind of angle with which he might bring the other into a fit of mewls, scrabbling at his back with pleasured little cries. But he could not seem to find that point. And his mind was circling relentlessly around the question of where his prostate resided. He cursed somewhere in the back of his thoughts, nearly snarling in frustration, and remembered only vaguely that he had not had the foresight to attempt prepping him again before doing this. But most of his senses were focused on the fact that he was hot and soft around him, almost as if he had dipped himself into a natural hot spring, where the waters would have rippled and lapped at his skin like liquid fire. He did not think a spring could really compare, however, with the way that he stretched to accommodate his size, a sensation so perfect that for a split second he had to admit it felt like they were meant to be together like this.

He had been hoping for so long that it might be a one time thing. He had been sure that it would give him the energy he required. He had convinced himself that it would help to make him more powerful and solidify his body where it seemed only half-made. But it had occurred to him even as he had attempted to leave that it would not be so. He needed more than this. And he was now encompassed so fully by the sensation of Yugi wrapped around him and the bond that existed there that it made impossible to fathom his former thoughts. He wanted to purr, to move without thought, and the impulse was so compelling that it was warning enough to not lose himself in that thought.

Yugi pulled him closer with his legs, bringing him somehow further inside of him. His fingers traced a path along his shoulder to his hair, the other suddenly releasing his shirt to creep under the neck of it and touch along the knobs of his spine. For a moment he remained frozen like that, merely looking and massaging. Then he finally tugged on his hair lightly with his left hand and pulled him closer to press their lips together.

He shifted his hips again, pivoting, and bit back a small snarl of frustration at the lack of progress he seemed to be making. The smaller teen moved to rub his neck in something almost akin a comforting motion, but it did nothing to calm him. Rather, he began to grow further irritable, bristling furiously at his inability. He should not have _needed _him to do that. It should have been easy for him to find it so that he could make him moan and writhe and it was frustrating to think that Yugi could even _feel _his mounting irritation like this.

_You're thinking loudly_, the smaller teen whispered in his head. _You need to calm down some, Yami_. _You'll find it soon enough_.

He nearly pulled back to snarl at him that he did not need his reassurance. But the smaller teen let out a small yelp that made him stop short for a split second. It could have been pain or pleasure that had coaxed such a noise from him, but the way that the smaller boy bucked against him and purred in satisfaction gave it its meaning.

_Right there_, the smaller purred, pulling back to breathe and shiver from where he was trying to push himself further into the mattress, licking his lips and pressing back into the pillow behind his head. _Right_. There_…_

The taller teen let out a small growl, deep in his chest, and reveled for a moment in the satisfaction that came with this new development. He pressed his face into his neck, licking as he moved his hips a little faster, the smaller boy encouraging this action with another buck that made him snarl softly. He picked a rhythm that was not entirely as fast as he had drawn the other into before, but it was enough to begin to tire him as he continued moving.

The smaller teen moaned softly, rocking his hips in lazy little motions that made him hiss behind his teeth. His hips continued moving, his back arching and his nails clawing at his shoulder and scalp. The hand in his hair pulled once, then drifted lazily to his shoulder and pressed gently to coax him into leaning further forward, to stretch completely across him. He was not entirely sure if it was because they had already done this only minutes before or if he was giving in to that primal sensation that existed between them. But the red-eyed boy was growing slightly erratic in pace as a growing fatigue tugged at his skin.

The lazy rolls of his hips made him nearly whine as he stretched over him. Yugi pulled on his hair lightly again, rubbing his cheek against his. It was only a few minutes into the act of their skin sliding against each other that it suddenly occurred to him just how hot he felt. His blood was moving faster and he swore he was going to combust at any moment…

He panted, a harsh noise that made him shiver as the other teen echoed him. A small bead of sweat landed against Yugi's shoulders, the smaller boy blinking and staring at it in shock. The taller teen ignored his wondrous expression, arching his back and rolling his shoulders again. He breathed out a rough exhale as his arms shook for a moment, his control slipping completely as his body seemed to drop in energy. He was not paying attention to him, somehow lost within a spiral of heat and power, but he was easily brought back to himself as Yugi feathered his eyelids and forehead with kisses.

"You okay?" he asked, drawing his lips back into a soft smile that made his half-closed eyes bright despite the exhausted look that lingered there. He stared at him for a long moment, unsure of what he might say or do in response. Then, abruptly, he nodded and rubbed his cheek against his for a split second before pulling away and rolling over onto his side next to him.

"You seem pretty fucking winded now," Yugi snickered cheekily, winking when the other boy snarled in annoyance and rolled his eyes.

He did not look back at him for a long minute.

"No strings attached? I can leave whenever I want?"

The smaller teen froze in place, staring at him for a moment before mumbling, "Yeah…just tell me when you're going."

Yami stayed still and then stretched his neck out to lay his chin flat against the pillow, breathing hard. "I'm not going anywhere right now," he muttered, just soft enough that Yugi could catch the words as they trailed off.

He didn't know what to say to that.

"Yami no Yugi…"

The smaller teen froze in place, staring at him with wide eyes as he refused to open his and look at him, instead keeping his chin pressed against the pillow, sinking into the soft material.

"I guess I could get used to that."

* * *

**As for when the sequel might come out, I'm hoping to AT LEAST get the first part up and running by the end of the month. That way I can start (and hopefully keep up with) regular bi-weekly updates like this story was meant to have. Regardless, I have picked out a name for the sequel, though I might change it if I think of something more suiting. In case of that, I'm just going to say that in the summary it WILL say "After the events of Behind You" or something similar to that, so that you know it's the sequel without me having to put it in there. I always feel weird personally when I read "Sequel to" in a summary, so yeah, I'm going to go with my own phrasing to avoid that.**


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